Liveblog: Cardinal Jorge Bergoglio elected pontiff, takes name Pope Francis
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'There is great brotherhood in the world,' new pope says Shock decision from papal conclave First Jesuit pope, first pope from South America Pope Francis's first day updates
Bergoglio has had a tense relationship with President Cristina Fernández de Kirchner, Jonathan Watt adds.
Their relationship worsened after the president passed a law legalizing same-sex marriage in Argentina in 2010.
The president even joked about beating Bergoglio for Pope herself. "Pity there is no Popess, if not I could compete for a post," Fernández said at a public event recently.
Although never directly, Bergoglio has delivered homilies in which he declared himself against Fernández's apparent ambition to change the Argentine Constitution to seek a third term of office in 2015, asking for "the banishment of oversized ambitions" and criticizing "the deliriums of grandeur" of the country's politicians.
My colleague Jonathan Watts in Brazil has more background on Bergoglio rise and his reputation as a cardinal.
Bergoglio was known in Buenos Aires for keeping an extremely low profile. The son of railway worker and a houswife from the middle-class neighbourhood of Flores, after he became archibishop of the city in 1998 he routinely turned down invitations to eat at restaurants and only left the archbishopric for meals at small soup kitchens. Otherwise, he was a typical "Porteño," as inhabitants of the porty city of Buenos Aires are known, a follower of the San Lorenzo football club, with a taste for classical music and the writings of Argentine writer Jorge Luis Borges.
An anecdote from his former spokesman Guillermo Marcó when Bergoglio was the archbishop of Buenos Aires. On February 21, 2001, Bergoglio was in Rome to be anointed cardinal. As they got ready to leave the house for priests where they were staying, Marcó asked how they should travel to the Vatican.
"Walking, of course," said Bergolgio. Marcó protested that Bergoglio was wearing his red robe. "Don't worry," Bergoglio said. "In Rome you could walk with a banana on your head an nobody would say anything."
When they arrived to the Holy see on foot, the Vatican guard was astounded. "The majority of cardinals arrived with large retinues," Marcó said. "Bergoglio arrived with just myself and a couple of relatives."
The Guardian's David Smith is in Cape Town, South Africa. He speaks with Father Russell Pollitt, the parish priest at Holy Trinity Catholic Church in Johannesburg, who says he's "surprised that there is a pope tonight":
"All seemed to indicate that it would take longer and many commentators said that. I am even more surprised that he is a brother Jesuit.
"I think that already tonight we are going to see a different kind of papacy. He greeted people warmly - not in a liturgical manner - and asked the people to bless him before he gave a blessing. He wasn't dressed in the red papal mozzetta and wore a simple wooden cross.
"I think he will understand the African context better than a European; he has first hand experience of poverty, political upheavals and third world health and education issues. The fact that he talks about being bishop of Rome is also intriguing. He has the intellectual ability and sophisticated understanding of the developed world but the pastoral experience of the third world. St Francis of Assisi spoke about 'rebuilding' the Church... What does the name suggest?"
Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio, who has become the Catholic church's 266th pope, is the choice of humility, a Jesuit intellectual who travels by bus and has a practical approach to poverty...
Something of a surprise choice – he was quoted as a 30/1 outsider going into the conclave – the archbishop of Buenos Aires was one of the leading challengers to Joseph Ratzinger during the 2005 conclave that elected the latter as Benedict XVI.
A champion of liberation theology which some thought might have been too much for conservatives in the Vatican, he nonetheless is considered a candidate that everyone in the higher echelons of the church respects. He becomes the church's first Latin American pope.
Guardian Latin America correspondent Jonathan Watts has reaction from Brazil:
President Dilma Rousseff of Brazil – the world's biggest Catholic nation – added her congratulations and said she looked forward to hosting the new pope on what is expected to be his first papal visit, to Rio in July.
"Coming such a short time after the election of the new pontiff, this visit will strengthen our nation's religious tradition and the bonds that connect Brazil to the Vatican," she said in a statement.
José Mariá Poirier in the Catholic Herald calls Bergoglio "notoriously media-shy." The dateline is 2013, but some of the copy at least (see the last graph below) seems to be recycled from 2005, when Bergoglio was also thought to be a leading candidate for pope:
What a surprise: it turns out that the main opponent to the unstoppable Joseph Ratzinger in the April conclave was none other than the severe, shy figure of the Archbishop of Buenos Aires. The revelation comes in the “secret diary” of one of their colleagues in the Casa Santa Marta – a cardinal’s account of the election published recently in an Italian magazine.
The spotlight the news has placed on Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio – whether or not it is true – will be agony for this notoriously media-shy Jesuit, whose face will have gone even redder with the speculation by vaticanisti that Bergoglio should now be seen as the leading contender to replace Benedict XVI when his time comes: the first Jesuit, and the first Latin American, in Church history to occupy the See of St Peter.
For Bergoglio’s enemies, the revelation will come as no surprise. It only proves, they will say, what we thought all along: that behind all that humility what Bergoglio really cares about is ambition. [...]
Bergoglio as Pope? Perhaps it is not so surprising. There was much talk, in John Paul II’s final years, that his successor should be a Latin American; the feeling was widespread that the continent’s hour was near. Bergoglio would be a safe bet: at 69 [sic] he is relatively young, and comes with many virtues: he is austere, doctrinally solid, and with a proven track record in Church governance, as Jesuit provincial, then auxiliary bishop and Cardinal Archbishop of Buenos Aires.
Bergoglio was born in Buenos Aires on December 17, 1936, and was one of five children in middle class family.
A respiratory illness, which he suffered during his youth, left him with only one lung.
Having studied chemical engineering, Bergoglio entered the seminary in the Villa Devoto neighbourhood of his native city. In 1958 he joined the Jesuit order, and went on to study humanities in Chile before returning to Buenos Aires in 1960 where he got a degree in philosophy.
In 1969, he was ordained a priest and just four years later was named provincial superior of Argentina, a post he held until 1979.
The Guardian's David Smith is in Cape Town, South Africa. He speaks with Raymond Perrier, director of the Jesuit Institute of South Africa, who described himself as "intrigued" by the choice"
"It's a huge surprise," he said. "He's older than I expected; I thought they would go for someone in their early 70s. He was very clearly on the shortlist in 2005 when he was 70. He's now 77 and I wonder if embedded in that is an assumption that Benedict has set a precedent: the pope can retire in his mid to late 80s.
"He's the first Jesuit pope ever. The notion of a Jesuit pope is so odd because Jesuits take an oath of allegiance to the pope. So in a sense he has to stop being a Jesuit; he can't be his own boss.
"While an African pope would have been interesting, the notion of an African pope ahead of a Latin American pope just wasn't plausible. The church has been in Latin America much longer and had the prior claim: it was 1492 versus the 1850s. Africa just didn't have the candidates. Peter Turkson was the strongest but he blotted his copybook in recent weeks.
"But the fact he's a pope from the global south? That's big, that's significant."
A note of caution about a claim in Hugh O'Shaughnessy's comment piece extracted below. We have not been able to ask Argentinian journalist Horacio Verbitsky about the allegation that Bergoglio was implicated in helping the Argentinian navy hide political prisoners in what O'Shaughnessy described as "his holiday home in an island called El Silencio". One of our reporters is examining the claims made by Verbitsky in his book. It appears that the island was owned by a senior Buenos Aires Catholic official, not Bergoglio, and visited by priests in the diocese. The Guardian has not seen any evidence linking Bergoglio to the hiding of prisoners on the island. We will publish a more detailed report as soon as possible.
The Guardian's Sam Jones passes this along from the Archbishop of Canterbury, Justin Welby, who offered his "warmest welcome to the election of Cardinal Bergoglio as the successor to His Holiness Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI." Welby's statement reads in part:
His election is also of great significance to Christians everywhere, not least among Anglicans. We have long since recognized—and often reaffirmed—that our churches hold a special place for one another. I look forward to meeting Pope Francis, and to walking and working together to build on the consistent legacy of our predecessors...
Pope Francis is well known as a compassionate pastor of real stature who has served the poor in Latin America, and whose simplicity and holiness of life is remarkable. He is an evangelist, sharing the love of Christ which he himself knows. His choice of the name Francis suggests that he wants to call us all back to the transformation that St Francis knew and brought to the whole of Europe, fired by contemplation and closeness to God.
Monica Mark gathers reaction from Ghana, whose cardinal, Peter Turkson, was seen as Africa’s best hope for the papacy.
Mark reached Emmanuel Abbey-Quaye, secretary-general of Ghana’s Catholic Bishop’s Conference, who was ordained by Turkson in 2005:
If a cardinal from Ghana had been chosen it would have been an great honour to us and the African continent, but we weren’t so concerned with all the media hype. The surprise was we were not anticipating someone from outside of Europe. But wherever they came from was not our concern. Truly the reaction in Ghana, even right now in my church, has been one of joy and happiness.
We know that no single cardinal has all the answers to all the problems of a particular continent or even one country, but they will all work together in concert. Argentina, Latin America – that is somewhere with similar challenges to Africa, and [Bergoglio] has a solid pastoral background that is crucial for places where the church as a whole is facing difficulties, whether it is Sudan or Israel. That is what was expected from a new leader.
The Guardian's Giles Tremlett reports from Madrid that Spanish prime minister Mariano Rajoy, "a conservative and Catholic, is obviously delighted by the choice of a Spanish-speaking pope." Rajoy released a statement:
On this historic occasion in which the church makes itself more universal than ever, I declare my government's readiness to continue and, if possible, strengthen the special relationship between the Holy See and Spain, on the basis of the profound values that we share: life, human dignity, freedom, peace and justice.
The Guardian's Angelique Chrisafis has reaction from French president Francois Hollande, who congratulated the new pope and wished him all the best "in facing the challenges of the modern world":
Hollande said France, "faithful to its universal principles of liberty, egality and fraternity," would continue its dialogue with the Holy See for "peace, justice, solidarity and human dignity."
Vice President Joe Biden, an observant Catholic and the first member of that faith to be elected vice president, will lead the US delegation to newly elected Pope Francis' installation in Rome, the Associated Press reports.
Brothers and sisters, good evening. You know that the duty of the conclave was to give a bishop to Rome. It seems that my brother cardinals went almost to the end of the world to get him. But here we are.
I thank you for this welcome by the diocesan community of Rome to its bishop. Thank you.
First of all, I would like to say a prayer for our bishop emeritus, Benedict XVI.Let us all pray together for him, let us all pray together for him so that the Lord my bless him and that the Madonna may protect him.
(The new pope then prayed the "Lord's Prayer", the "Hail Mary" and the "Glory Be" with the crowd in Italian).
He then continued:
And now, let us start this journey, bishop and people, bishop and people, this journey of the Church of Rome, which leads all the Churches in charity, a journey of fraternity, of love, of trust among us.
Let us always pray for us, one for the other, let us pray for the whole world, so that there may be a great fraternity. I hope that this journey of the Church that we begin today and which my cardinal vicar, who is here with me, will help me with, may be fruitful for the evangelisation of this beautiful city.
Now, I would like to give you a blessing, but first I want to ask you for a favour.Before the bishop blesses the people, I ask that you pray to the Lord so that he blesses me. This is the prayer of the people who are asking for the blessing of their bishop.
In silence, let us say this prayer of you for me.
(After a few seconds of silent prayer, he then delivered his blessing).
He then concluded:
Tomorrow I want to go to pray to the Madonna so that she protects all of Rome. Good night and have a good rest.
File picture dated last 18 March 2010 and provide by the Argentinian government press office department that shows Cardinal Jorge Bergoglio (L), Archbishop of Buenos Aires during a talk with Argentinian president Cristina Fernandez (R) during a meeting between the government and the Argentinian church held in Buenos Aires, Argentina. Photograph: Argentinian Presidency/HANDOUT/EPA Photograph: Argentinian Presidency / HANDOUT/EPA
The Wikileaks cables included detailed diplomatic assessments of all the 2005 papal candidates, including Archbishop Jorge Mario Bergoglio:
-- BERGOGLIO, Jorge Mario: Born December 17, 1936 in Buenos Aires, and ordained December 13, 1969 during his theological studies at the Theological Faculty of San Miguel. Bergoglio served as Jesuit Provincial (elected leader of the order) for Argentina (1973-79) and rector of the Philosophical and Theological Faculty of San Miguel (1980-86). After completing his doctoral dissertation in Germany, Bergoglio served as a confessor and spiritual director in Cordoba. In 1992, the Pope appointed him Assistant Bishop of Buenos Aires; then in 1997, he was appointed Coadjutor Archbishop (deputy archbishop with right of succession) of Buenos Aires; ultimately becoming Archbishop on February 28, 1998. Bergoglio is the vice-President of the Argentine Bishops Conference and serves on the Vatican's committee for the worldwide synod of bishops (a grouping of all bishops conferences). He speaks Spanish, Italian and German. Bergoglio exemplifies the virtues of the wise pastor that many electors value. Observers have praised his humility: he has been reluctant to accept honors or hold high office and commutes to work on a bus. What could count against him is his membership in the Jesuit order. Some senior prelates, especially conservatives, are suspicious of a liberal streak in the order, perhaps most pronounced in the U.S., but also present elsewhere. Bergoglio is said to prefer life in the local Church as opposed to a bureaucratic existence in Rome's ecclesiastical structures, but at the same time he has been willing to serve on the Vatican's various supervisory committees. This could indicate an ability to bridge the curia/local church divide that splits the College of Cardinal Electors, making him a good compromise candidate.
Cables re new Pope: his "ability to bridge the curia/local church divide... [makes] him a good compromise candidate" bit.ly/WI00WS
So much for the betting markets. A survey of what the oddsmakers were saying before the new pope was selected shows they misjudged the situation badly. In David Leonhardt's roundup published Thursday on the 538 blog, a certain Jesuit archbishop from Argentina doesn't even warrant a mention:
This time, the favorite is Angelo Scola, the archbishop of Milan, as he was when we last checked in with the betting markets on March 4. A 71-year-old Italian with an intellectual bent, Cardinal Scola has a chance of between 25 percent and 33 percent of being elected, according to various oddsmakers.
But after Cardinal Scola the oddsmakers’ choices have shifted a bit. Cardinal Odilo Pedro Scherer, of Brazil, who was in ninth place with just 6 percent odds a week ago, is now just behind Scola, with a 22 percent chance, based on the odds at Paddy Power on Tuesday night.
In 2010 Bergoglio called a same-sex marriage proposal "a destructive attack on God's plan." The New York Times reported at the time:
In what is expected to be a fierce discussion, Argentina’s Senate is scheduled to vote Wednesday on a bill allowing gay people to wed. The proposed law has increased frictions between the Roman Catholic Church and the government of President Cristina Fernández de Kirchner, which is pushing the bill.
The war of words continued on Tuesday as church leaders staged large protests around the country against the proposed law. On Sunday, Cardinal Jorge Bergoglio, the archbishop of Buenos Aires, had declared it a “destructive attack on God’s plan.”
Ewen MacAskill passes on this statement from President Obama "on His Holiness Pope Francis":
On behalf of the American people, Michelle and I offer our warm wishes to His Holiness Pope Francis as he ascends to the Chair of Saint Peter and begins his papacy.
As a champion of the poor and the most vulnerable among us, he carries forth the message of love and compassion that has inspired the world for more than two thousand years—that in each other we see the face of God.
As the first pope from the Americas, his selection also speaks to the strength and vitality of a region that is increasingly shaping our world, and alongside millions of Hispanic Americans, those of us in the United States share the joy of this historic day.
Just as I appreciated our work with Pope Benedict XVI, I look forward to working with His Holiness to advance peace, security and dignity for our fellow human beings, regardless of their faith.
We join with people around the world in offering our prayers for the Holy Father as he begins the sacred work of leading the Catholic Church in our modern world.
The Guardian's Giles Tremlett is looking through the new pope's past speeches. As archbishop, Bergoglio decried the "scandal of poverty" and "fragmentation" of the family and society:
From a speech a few years ago (date unclear but post-2003): "The radical challenge that Argentina must face is precisely the deep crisis of values in our culture from which other serious problems derive: the scandal of poverty and social exclusion, the crisis in marriage and the family, the need for greater communion. At the root of the current state of society we find the fragmentation that questions and weakens the links between man and God, with the family, with society and with the church."
And two years ago, in a hard-hitting speech, Bergoglio seems to have taken a dig at the Argentina of president Cristina Fernandez and her former husband, and ex-president, Nestor Kirchner: "Today is an invitation to wake up once more to humility, and the humility of accepting who we are and what we can do, to be big enough to share things without cheating or putting on appearances, because we cannot forget that unbridled ambition will only mean that the supposed victor is the king of a desert, of a razed land," he said.
More on Argentinian journalist Horacio Verbitsky's contention that Bergoglio stood by as tens of thousand of leftists were captured and killed:
The most well-known episode relates to the abduction of two Jesuits whom the military government secretly jailed for their work in poor neighborhoods.
According to "The Silence," a book written by journalist Horacio Verbitsky, Bergoglio withdrew his order's protection of the two men after they refused to quit visiting the slums, which ultimately paved the way for their capture.
Verbitsky's book is based on statements by Orlando Yorio, one of the kidnapped Jesuits, before he died of natural causes in 2000. Both of the abducted clergymen survived five months of imprisonment.
"History condemns him. It shows him to be opposed to all innovation in the Church and above all, during the dictatorship, it shows he was very cozy with the military," Fortunato Mallimacci, the former dean of social sciences at the Universidad de Buenos Aires, once said.
The Reuters piece also has this character portrait from Bergoglio's biographer:
Described by his biographer as a balancing force, Bergoglio, 76, has monk-like habits, is media shy and deeply concerned about the social inequalities rife in his homeland and elsewhere in Latin America.
"His character is in every way that of a moderate. He is absolutely capable of undertaking the necessary renovation without any leaps into the unknown. He would be a balancing force," said Francesca Ambrogetti, who co-authored a biography of Bergoglio after carrying out a series of interviews with him over three years.
The Guardian's Patrick Kingsley, based in Cairo, picks up on reaction from a Coptic bishop:
Coptic Bishop Angaelos – tweeting live from the Egyptian desert – has described his "heartfelt joy" at not just the new Roman Catholic pope, but the new Coptic Catholic patriarch, who was by a quirk of fate also enthroned this week. Bishop Angaelos describes the evening as "surreal", though it is unclear whether this surreality comes from today's news, or from his sandy surroundings, which Angaelos claims to be the birthplace of monasticism.
The Catholic Church was complicit in horrible crimes in Argentina, Hugh O'Shaughnessy wrote in the Guardian in 2011: "Yet even the execution of other men of the cloth did nothing to shake the support of senior clerics, including representatives of the Holy See, for the criminality of their leader General Jorge Rafael Videla and his minions."
Shaughnessy's indictment of the church in Argentina singles out Bergoglio:
What one did not hear from any senior member of the Argentinian hierarchy was any expression of regret for the church's collaboration and in these crimes. The extent of the church's complicity in the dark deeds was excellently set out by Horacio Verbitsky, one of Argentina's most notable journalists, in his book El Silencio (Silence). He recounts how the Argentinian navy hid from a visiting delegation of the Inter-American Human Rights Commission the dictatorship's political prisoners on an island linked to senior clerics.
One would have thought that the Argentinian bishops would have seized the opportunity to call for pardon for themselves and put on sackcloth and ashes as the sentences were announced in Córdoba but that has not so far happened.
In a 2012 interview with Vatican Insider, Archbishop Bergoglio talked about then-Pope Benedict's call to a new evangelization – and singled out vanity as a loathsome vice:
The cardinalate is a service is, it is not an award to be bragged about. Vanity, showing off, is an attitude that reduces spirituality to a worldly thing, which is the worst sin that could be committed in the Church. This is affirmed in the final pages of the book entitled Méditation sur l’Église, by Henri De Lubac. Spiritual worldliness is a form of religious anthropocentrism that has Gnostic elements. Careerism and the search for a promotion come under the category of spiritual worldliness. An example I often use to illustrate the reality of vanity, is this: look at the peacock; it’s beautiful if you look at it from the front. But if you look at it from behind, you discover the truth… Whoever gives in to such self-absorbed vanity has huge misery hiding inside them.
Nigerian Cardinal Francis Arinze was thought to have been an early favourite in the selection of the new pope, along with Ghana’s Peter Turkson. The Guardian's Monica Mark speaks with Father John Paul Ale of Falomo Church, one of the oldest in Nigeria, about today's pick:
He’s an advantageous choice for Africa. He’s a very pastorally inclined man. There’s more work to be done in Africa and since pastoral work is his specialty, we should have a good testimony from him. It’s not about race or colour, but the beginning of a new life of the church.
The Guardian's Giles Tremlett points to further reporting that Bergoglio was runner-up in 2005:
Bergoglio came second in 2005 when Joseph Ratzinger became pope, according to the alleged diary of one of the cardinals who was present.
That diary was published in 2005 by Limes, a serious Italian magazine, which did not identify the cardinal. It said that Bergoglio came second by 84 votes to 26 in the final vote in 2005.
Although he is considered orthodox on doctrine, Bergoglio is apparently flexible on sexual doctrine and, in private, joked "they want to stick the whole world inside a condom".
The Guardian's Miriam Elder sends along a short statement from the Russian Orthodox Church, which has had an often conflicted relationship with the Vatican:
"The Russian Orthodox Church hopes to maintain the positive dynamics in relations under the new Pope," the church said in a statement.
New York magazine's Kevin Roose breaks down the Roman Catholic Church's financial empire:
The new pope, who is being elected at a conclave that began today, will not only take control of one of the world's major religions; he will also oversee a massive religious business whose holdings are worth billions of dollars, but whose finances on a yearly basis are often rocky.[...]
I made a chart containing the net surpluses and deficits for both the Holy See and the Vatican City government from 2005 to 2011, the last year for which data are publicly available. The blue line represents the Holy See, and the red line represents the Vatican City government. As you can see, both the Holy See and the Vatican City government have been struggling financially in recent years, though the Vatican City government has recovered from its low point, while the Holy See has not.
Pope Francis is now the head of a massive financial enterprise. The Vatican's financial empire, in charts: nym.ag/ZG8w5g
The new pope, Jorge Mario Bergoglio, now Francis I, was runner-up in the 2005 conclave. The National Catholic Reporter profiled Bergoglio at the start of the month:
After the dust settled from the election of Benedict XVI, various reports identified the Argentine Jesuit as the main challenger to then-Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger. One cardinal later said the conclave had been "something of a horse race" between Ratzinger and Bergoglio, and an anonymous conclave diary splashed across the Italian media in September 2005 claimed that Bergoglio received 40 votes on the third ballot, just before Ratzinger crossed the two-thirds threshold and became pope.
Though it's hard to say how seriously one should take the specifics, the general consensus is that Bergoglio was indeed the "runner-up" last time around. He appealed to conservatives in the College of Cardinals as a man who had held the line against liberalizing currents among the Jesuits, and to moderates as a symbol of the church's commitment to the developing world.
In 2009 Bergoglio made headlines when he criticised the government of Nestor Kirchner, husband of current Argentine president Cristina Fernandez, claiming it was "immoral, illegitimate and unjust" to allow inequality in the country to grow, writes Giles Tremlett.
"Rather than preventing that, it seems they have opted for making inequalities even greater," he said. "Human rights are not only violated by terrorism, repression or assassination, but also by unfair economic structures that creates huge inequalities," he said at the time.
Bergoglio is considered a conservative, according to Spain's El Pais newspaper.
Noted for his austerity and for using public transport in Buenos Aires, he is considered unusually conservative for a Jesuit. he studied humanities in Argentina, philosophy in Argentina and later theology. he was already considered a candidate for pope in 2005. Modest and upright, he is also considered an intellectual heavyweight. He has also been very critical with corruption in his home country . He has also accused Argentina's government of not doing enough to eradicate poverty.
He would like to bless the crowd, he says. But first he would like to ask a favour; he'd like to ask them to pray to God so God can bless him. The crowd love that.
The archbishop of Buenos Aires is a Jesuit intellectual who travels by bus and has a practical approach to poverty: when he was appointed a cardinal, Bergoglio persuaded hundreds of Argentinians not to fly to Rome to celebrate with him but instead to give the money they would have spent on plane tickets to the poor. He was a fierce opponent of Argentina's decision to legalise gay marriage in 2010, arguing children need to have the right to be raised and educated by a father and a mother. He was created a cardinal by John Paul II on 21 February 2001.
The first and most obvious point to make is that the new pope has been elected much more swiftly than had been predicted, writes John Hooper.
We do not yet know for certain, but it would seem to have been on the fifth ballot. Only three of the nine previous conclaves since 1900 have ended sooner. As we wait for the name of Benedict's successor to be announced, the speculation is that it is one of the early frontrunners - Angelo Scola or Odilo Scherer. The last outsider to be chosen, John Paul II, did not obtain the necessary two-thirds majority until the eighth ballot. But I'm not ruling out surprises. Conclaves are unpredictable affairs. Paul VI went into the 1963 conclave as the favourite but did not get the votes he needed until the 11th ballot.
So a pope has been chosen – but we still don't know the name. Cardinal Jean-Louis Pierre Tauran will shortly appear to announce who the successful cardinal is.
I remember the senior cardinal going up to Cardinal Ratzinger and saying: 'Your Eminence, will you accept to be the supreme pontiff of the Catholic church?' And we all waited. He said: 'No. I can't.' And then he said: 'I accept as the will of God.' And then the cardinal said: 'What name will you take?' And he said: 'Benedict.' He must have thought about it the night before.
The name of the next pontiff will then be announced to the crowd in St Peter’s Square with the words “habemus papam” – we have a pope – followed by the pope’s name (with his first name in Latin) and then his new papal name.
After that the new pope will be brought out to greet the crowd.
The seagull has now taken off from the chimney. If the cardinals were waiting for him to leave in a humane gesture so as not to give him the shock of his life, we could be getting some smoke very soon ...
Once we see some white smoke – whether that's today, tomorrow, or in two years and nine months – this is how the next pope will be announced:
Annuntio vobis gaudium magnum: Habemus Papam; Eminentissimum ac reverendissimum Dominum, Dominum [First Name] Sanctæ Romanæ Ecclesiæ Cardinalem [Last Name], Qui sibi nomen imposuit [Papal Name].
Or, in English:
I announce to you a great joy: We have a Pope! The most eminent and most reverend Lord, Lord [First Name] Cardinal of the Holy Roman Church [Last Name], Who takes for himself the name of [Papal Name].
There are two stoves in the Sistine Chapel, one that has been used in conclaves since 1939, and one, introduced in 2005, which has an electronic smoke-producing device in it.
The ballot papers are burned in the first, while the device in the second activates a cartridge holding five lots of chemical mixture that are loaded gradually over the course of seven minutes. This is designed to make the smoke either clearly black or clearly white.
For the black smoke the mixture is potassium perchlorate, anthracene and sulphur, the Vatican confirmed. For the white version it is potassium chlorate, lactose and a pine resin known as Greek pitch.
The two stoves join in one pipe that connects them to the chimney.
Here's the scene in St Peter's Square a few moments ago.
A sea of umbrellas in St Peter's Square as people wait for the papal conclave to announce its choice of the next pope today. Photograph: Vatican TV Photograph: Vatican TV
Why does the pope choose a new name anyway? What would have been wrong with Pope Joseph, or Pope Karol? According to the Kansas City Star, "the story goes that Mercurius, named for the god Mercury, started the new-name practice when he was elected pope back in the 500s and changed his to John II."
“A pope named after a pagan god — that wasn’t going to go over, PR-wise,” church historian Biagio Mazza told the paper.
But as the Huffington Post reports, changing one's name didn't become a fully-fledged tradition until Bruno of Carinthia's transformation into Pope Gregory V in 996.
The Economist has put together this graphic of the most popular papal names. John comes top, and that would be a well-received choice for the next pontiff, the magazine reckons:
The last holder of that name, who reigned from 1958 to 1963, is held in high esteem by liberals and moderate conservatives alike. By choosing Benedict, the previous pope signalled continuity with Benedict XV, who steered the Vatican through the first world war, and also with the original Saint Benedict who founded the Benedictine monastic order and is considered a pioneer of European education. Choosing John Paul would of course be an assertion of continuity with the charismatic but conservative pope from Poland. Although the popes are regarded as successors to Saint Peter, no pope has ever been immodest enough to call himself Peter II.
If asked, I think I would be tempted to go for Paul.
Just to recap, the cardinals are currently back inside the Sistine Chapel trying to make their decision. Black or white smoke could come any time from about 4.30pm to 6.30pm GMT.
If the smoke is black, the process begins again tomorrow: two ballots in the morning, then some smoke, two ballots in the afternoon, then some smoke.
If no pope has been elected by Friday, the cardinals will hold a day of prayer and reflection on Saturday before resuming their conclave on Sunday.
Oddschecker.com, the odds comparison site, has Ghana's Peter Turkson as the second favourite (perhaps due to Dennis Rodman's decisive intervention). Italy's Angelo Scola remains the favourite, and Brazil's Odilo Pedro Scherer is third. The full, exhausting table of odds is here.
It was around this time on the second day of the 2005 conclave that Benedict XVI was announced as the new pope. But Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger went into that conclave in a much stronger position than any of today's papabili.
Here's my full report on Dennis Rodman's visit to the Vatican today.
Fresh from his triumphant diplomatic tour of North Korea – during which he pronounced supreme leader Kim Jong-un a “friend for life” but unfortunately managed to upset South Korean Gangnam Style singer Psy – former basketball star Dennis Rodman has now pitched up at the Vatican to lend a hand with the process of choosing a new pope.
“It’s amazing that I’m actually doing all these amazing historical things now,” he added. “And people just can’t believe it’s actually Dennis Rodman, of all people – not Madonna, Oprah, or anybody like that, it’s Dennis Rodman.”
Rodman was said to be in Rome to help Cardinal Peter Turkson of Ghana become the first black pope. But the Associated Press reported that he did not seem to be sure exactly who he was promoting. “From Africa, right?” Rodman asked. But he said he was sure the next pope would be black, and he said he would like to meet him in Africa on his mission to promote world peace.
Pope John Paul II was the American Hall of Fame basketball player’s favourite pontiff, he said: “He was cool as hell. He pretty much was like a pimp. Sitting up there … speaking like 20,000 different languages … He was great for the world.”
Rodman had promised to be “in the popemobile, doing my thing”. But his plans to enter St Peter’s Square in his own version of a popemobile were reportedly held up when the vehicle was delayed by snow in northern Italy.
“This is the best thing I've seen all day ... look at Dennis Rodman's jacket! #iwantit,” tweeted Annapurna Barry. But, as 115 cardinals in full “choir dress” continued deliberating over the choice of the next pontiff behind the closed doors of the Sistine Chapel, whether Rodman was the most flamboyantly-dressed man in the Vatican today remained an open question.
Dennis Rodman walks near the Vatican today. Photograph: Christopher Furlong/Getty Images Photograph: Christopher Furlong/Getty Images
The Vatican Radio website has written up the Vatican press conference that took place at lunchtime. It reports this from Father Thomas Rosica on being in the Sistine Chapel with all the cardinals before the conclave began yesterday:
When we entered, I think there were three things that struck me very much when I was in that room: when I was a little boy, I used to see these movies on TV, about everything that happened here, and watching Cardinals going into the Sistine Chapel – and all of a sudden, I realised, this was no longer a movie, but this was happening before our very eyes – it was a deeply moving experience; I had chills going up my spine as I heard the Sistine Choir begin the haunting chant of the Litany of the Saints and then the Veni Creator; as I watched the Cardinals go up the ramp, I looked at those faces, and I saw, not just the Cardinals, but their countries, and their nations – and I started to [ask myself] what must the people feel like in that particular country, that, this man is entering that Chapel with all of them. I realised I was part of something that is much, much bigger than I am, [than] anything that I have ever imagined.
Odilo Scherer, the much-fancied Brazilian candidate, is one of 13 siblings, writes Jonathan Watts, which has given the local media plenty of interview targets. In the most recent, Lothar Scherer told the O Globo newspaper that he bets his brother will chose the papal name Paul if he is elected. Meanwhile Bruno Scherer says he expects the field to be narrowed to two this afternoon and a final decision tomorrow.
Despite the secretive nature of the conclave, the one thing we can say with absolute certainty is that the man the cardinal electors choose to succeed Benedict XVI will not be English, writes Sam Jones. Why? Because none of them is English. Here, courtesy of the Catholic Communications Network (the media office of the Bishops’ Conference of England and Wales), is a short profile of Adrian IV, the only Englishman to have held the office:
Adrian IV - The only English pope
Nearly 1,000 years ago, in 1154, a man named Nicholas Breakspear was elected the first - and thus far only - English pope.
Pope Adrian IV was born Nicholas Breakspear around 1100 AD, close to St Albans in Hertfordshire, England.
It is thought that his exact birthplace was Abbots Langley and that his father was Robert Breakspear - “a man of humble means, though of a decent stock”.
As a boy, Nicholas asked to be admitted to a local monastery but was turned away because he wasn’t thought to be highly educated enough.
Around 1125 he attended Merton Priory.
Nicholas was later to visit the monastery of St Rufus near Avignon, in south-eastern France, and was asked to stay - eventually becoming its Abbot.
When Nicholas subsequently visited Rome on monastic business, Pope Eugenius III recognised his gifts and refused to let him leave - making him a Cardinal.
One of Nicholas’ tasks was to help establish the Church’s structure in Norway - establishing the archbishopric. When he returned to Rome, such was the success of his mission, he was hailed as the ‘Apostle of the North’. The following day, on 4 December 1154, Nicholas was elected Pope.
His time as Pope was challenging because of the activities of Italian barons. Arnold of Brescia actually took Rome, which was eventually returned to Pope Adrian …
A controversial act of Pope Adrian was a bull that allowed Henry II of England to annex Ireland to his kingdom.
Adrian was Supreme Pontiff for five years until his death in 1159. Witnesses claim that he died when he choked on a fly while enjoying a goblet of wine, but historian believe he may have died from a complication of tonsillitis called quinsy.
The live video from St Peter's Square now seems to be back online.
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Dennis Rodman arrives in St Peter's Square today. Photograph: Chris Helgren/Reuters Photograph: CHRIS HELGREN/REUTERS
US basketball player Dennis Rodman, fresh from his diplomatic triumph in North Korea (where he managed to upset Psy, see below, but never mind), has now arrived in St Peter's Square, apparently to promote the chances of Ghana's Peter Turkson and, either way, meet the new pope. "I want to be anywhere in the world that I'm needed," he said.
Cardinal Martinez's stylists must have taken the day off, because it's unusual for this holy fashion maven to make a faux pas. We've said it before, and we'll say it again: busy embroidery is conclave kryptonite!
The final word on the composition of the holy smoke goes to the New York Times. With its usual air of authority, the paper assures its readers that both recipes are "fairly standard pyrotechnical formulas":
The white smoke, used to announce the election of a new pope, combines potassium chlorate, milk sugar (which serves as an easily ignitable fuel) and pine rosin, Vatican officials said in a statement. The black smoke, which was used Tuesday evening to signal that no one in the first round of balloting received the necessary two-thirds vote of the 115 cardinals, uses potassium perchlorate and anthracene (a component of coal tar), with sulfur as the fuel. Potassium chlorate and perchlorate are related compounds, but perchlorate is preferred in some formulations because it is more stable and safer.
Barack Obama has backed the idea of an American pope, playing down concerns that he would be too tied to the US government. Obama told ABC:
It seems to me that an American pope would preside just as effectively as a Polish pope or an Italian pope or a Guatemalan pope. I don't know if you've checked lately, but the Conference of Catholic Bishops here in the United States don't seem to be taking orders from me.
Asked about yesterday's female protesters in favour of women's ordination, who launched pink smoke into the sky above St Peter's Square, and a topless protest by Femen, Lombardi claims the crowd were more interested in watching the Sistine Chapel chimney.
Lombardi says Femen protesters are welcome to come back but he hopes they won't catch cold #Conclave
Lombardi is asked about accusations against Cardinal Roger Mahony, the former Archbishop of Los Angeles made by the Survivors' Network of those Abused by Priests (SNAP).
The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Los Angeles, Mahony and an ex-priest, Michael Baker, yesterday agreed to pay a total of nearly $10m to settle four child sex abuse cases brought against them, lawyers said.
Lombardi: We know how SNAP works, makes its accusations. We aren't surprised they're in Rome these days.
This press conference really does seem to be mostly about smoke. Lombardi is now being asked if any of the cardinals are smokers. He says he doesn't know. There is no smoking in the common areas for the cardinals, but he is sure any smoking cardinals will be polite and smoke only outside or in their rooms.
I'm sensing a slight lack of news in this news conference.
Lombardi says he doesn't have many details about what exactly the cardinals are doing right now, but he says that in addition to praying, eating and sleeping they are free to visit each other and discuss the choice facing them. After the first three votes – yesterday's opening ballot, and today's two votes – they are likely to continue to gather information and reflect, he says.
Father Gil Tamayo, the third member of the trinity of Vatican spokesmen, says it was an honour to be in the Sistine Chapel yesterday. He saw the cardinals enter concentrated, serious and prayerful.
The charismatic Timothy Dolan of New York, for example, wasn't gesturing; he was composed.
There is a different sense of time in the chapel, Tamayo says.
Lombardi says he was in the Sistine Chapel when the cardinals took their oaths of secrecy yesterday and master of ceremonies Monsignor Guido Marini said: "Extra omnes”: everybody out. It was very emotional, he says. He heard the emotion in the cardinals' voices as they took the oath.
Lombardi confirms the Italian newspaper reports we mentioned earlier saying that the emeritus pope, Benedict XVI, watched yesterday's conclave events on TV, while praying for the cardinals.
Lombardi explains how last night's impressively dark black smoke was produced, giving the chemical composition of the smoke cartridges that are inserted into the stoves. It's not his specialist subject, he says.
Lombardi having problems keeping a straight face here. #conclave
Lombardi recalls that in 2005, when the white smoke went up to mark the fact Benedict XVI had become the next pope, throngs of people began running to St Peter's Square from all over Rome, the Catholic News Service says.
People love the pope, no matter where he comes from, Lombardi says. He expects more people to arrive in St Peter's Square as the voting continues.
La Stampa's Vatican Insider claims that most of the votes have been going to Cardinals Scola, Bergoglio and Ouellet. This morning it was claiming most of them were going to Scola, Scherer, Bergoglio, Ouellet and Dolan. But it's hard to know where they can be getting this information from.
There will be a Vatican press briefing shortly. I'll bring you as many details as I can from this, although it's unlikely to give much away.
This morning's blackish smoke will have come as a bit of a disappointment to a German couple Lizzy Davies was speaking to in the Vatican minutes before; they were on their last day's holiday in Rome and were hoping against hope for a new pope to see them off.
"It's great event; it's wonderful. I think now the sun is shining and perhaps it will be, but I don't know!" said Lilo Froehlich, a Catholic from Remagen in western Germany who was travelling with her husband, Gerd.
Lilo, loyal to Benedict, her fellow countryman, praised the "courage" of his decision to step down, and defended his papacy.
"I think that he was somewhat underestimated. Because he was a bit introverted; he was was always friendly but he didn't make great speeches, but I think he set himself certain points which made history and also whose effect I believe we will see in the future."
What were her hopes for the next pope, whoever he may be? "I hope that there will be a pope who brings a bit of order to the church - for example with this abuse scandal," she said. "And someone who inspires young people - not the old folk. Someone who can convince young people that they shouldn't drift off into sects but that they should stay in the Catholic church."
Cardinals have begun the second day of their conclave to decide which of their number should become the next pope - but a burst of black smoke this morning indicated they had not yet made up their minds. White smoke would have meant a new pontiff had been picked. The cardinals will continue their discussions this afternoon.
The Vatican conclave began yesterday with the 115 cardinals choosing the next head of the Catholic church locking themselves in the Sistine Chapel to begin their deliberations. The cardinals are due to hold two more ballots this afternoon, followed by another puff of smoke to indicate whether or not they have come to a decision. A two-thirds majority – 77 votes – is needed for outright victory.
The favourite remains Cardinal Angelo Scola of Milan, with Cardinal Odilo Pedro Scherer in second place. But in truth no figure goes into the conclave with the kind of strong prospects Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger had when he became Pope Benedict XVI in 2005.
Here’s this afternoon’s very rough schedule:
Midday GMT: Lunch.
3pm GMT: Departure for Sistine Chapel.
3.50pm GMT: Prayers and voting in Sistine Chapel. The cardinals can vote twice in the afternoon. Again, if they have not elected a pope after two votes, black smoke will emerge from the chimney. If they have elected a pope, white smoke will emerge after either the first or second ballot of the afternoon session. Therefore, afternoon smoke can be expected between about 4.30pm and 6.30pm.
6.15pm GMT: Vespers in the Sistine Chapel.
6.30pm GMT: Departure for St Martha’s.
7pm GMT: Dinner.
If no pope has been elected by Friday, the cardinals will hold a day of prayer and reflection on Saturday before resuming their conclave on Sunday.
Here's a good picture of this morning's black smoke:
Black smoke billows from the chimney of the Sistine Chapel this morning. Photograph: Peter Macdiarmid/Getty Images Photograph: Peter Macdiarmid/Getty Images
The cardinals will now head back to St Martha's House and have lunch, and then return to the Sistine Chapel by about 3.50pm GMT. But, as we have seen, all these timings are pretty rough.
Lizzy Davies is in St Peter’s Square, where a large crowd of thousands has now gathered, and it has just stopped raining. She told me:
There are lots of national flags of various different countries and from different groups. Lots of Italians, obviously, but also I’ve spoken to Germans, Ghanaians, Filipinos, French people, Americans … [People from all over] the world are gathered here today in St Peter’s Square.
She said the atmosphere was “expectant” – it’s about the time right now when, if the cardinals had made a decision on their first ballot this morning, we would get some white smoke. “They’re very happy and there’s a general air of excitement,” she said. “People are happy just to be here … People know that this is a historic event … It’s just being part of the moment.”
A large crowd waits in St Peter's Square for news from the papal conclave this morning. Photograph: Vatican TV Photograph: /Vatican TV
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My colleague Lizzy Davies is in St Peter's Square, amid a sea of umbrellas, and has just been talking to Father Daniel Saaka, from Damongo in Ghana, who is in Rome studying. He told her:
This is my first time here [in the Vatican during a conclave] and I feel so happy and privileged to be here at this particular time so I can see the smoke with my naked eye instead of on television. I have no particular favourite: as a Catholic I believe that my favourites or my interests don't count as much as those of the church. I will trust in the decision of the Holy Spirit. Whoever is the next pope, we should all rally behind him, especially in this difficult time for the church.
As we all know the church is facing a lot of challenges at the moment - for instance the sexual abuse scandal. And the identity of the church is confused in the world: what it stands for and what it is.
Saaka said, therefore, the next pope should be someone who is capable of good governance and keeping up the mission of evangelisation. He said he did not blame Benedict XVI for all the church's woes, even if there had been some decisions that "may not have gone the right way".
And what of Cardinal Peter Turkson, the great Ghanaian hope for pope? Saaka refused to bring patriotism into the papal election, saying his "joy would be almost the same as any other Catholic". But he admitted that an African pope would carry great symbolic value:
I would of course be happy that there is an openness in the church's leadership to all races.
I've heard a number of Catholics on 24-hour news channels over the past day or so talking about how much of a democratic process choosing the pope is – but the truth is it's also a bit obscure. As Catholic News Service just tweeted to a follower desperate for a scrap of news:
@nickizheretweet No way to know for sure what's happening in Sistine. Only link to outside is the smoke stack.
When the new pope is announced, things will get clearer – but slowly. As CNS says on its blog, Cardinal Jean-Louis Tauran of France, as top-ranking cardinal deacon, will say in Latin: “I announce to you a great joy. We have a pope: His most Eminent and Reverend Lordship, Lord …” followed by the Latin version of the chosen cardinal’s first name, and then his surname.
This list gives the Latin first names of all 115 cardinals.
Odilo Scherer is Odilonem. Angelo Scola is Angelum, as are three other cardinals whose first names are Angelo. Peter Turkson shares the name Petrum with Peter Erdo of Hungary.
I like this picture of TV tents set up above St Peter's Basilica last night.
TV tents near St Peter's Basilica during the papal conclave yesterday. Photograph: Giuseppe Cacace/AFP/Getty Images Photograph: Giuseppe Cacace/AFP/Getty Images
Lizzy Davies writes: He may be all the way over in Castel Gandolfo, 27km (16.8 miles) away from the Vatican, but the emeritus pope watched all the proceedings yesterday on television, the Italian papers report today.
He spent the whole day immersed in 'TV and prayer', writes the Corriere della Sera, and ended it listening to some music and reading Aristotle's Politics (book VII, in case you were wondering).
His right-hand man, of course, Georg Gaenswein, left Benedict's side for the Vatican yesterday to take part in the mass. Gaenswein is the German archbishop who is at once Ratzinger's personal secretary and the prefect of the papal household - a dual role that has raised eyebrows.
He is perhaps better known, in the press corps at least, as "Gorgeous Georg" or the "Clooney of the Vatican".
Judge for yourself ...
Pope Benedict XVI talks to his personal secretary George Gaenswein after his final general audience at St Peter's Square on 27 February. Photograph: Gregorio Borgia/AP Photograph: Gregorio Borgia/AP
Anyone wanting to circumvent the 115 cardinals and chose their own pope can do so thanks to the Guardian’s Pontifficator. Use the interactive to explore their views on issues from contraception to relations with other faiths, peruse their CVs, and choose the man you think is best qualified for the job.
Just in case there was any doubt remaining after yesterday's Twitter and TV extravaganza, here's another reminder that this is a very 21st century conclave, writes Lizzy Davies: it has its own Spotify soundtrack.
Yes, just in case you were looking for some spiritually-uplifting sounds to accompany the white smoke, look no further: Spotify have worked with the Notre Dame Center for Liturgy (NDCL) in the United States to come up with 29 pieces of music that they say will "give the listener a disposition of wonder, of contemplation, of prayer".
Tim O'Malley, the director of the NDCL said in a statement: "The playlist consists of motifs central to the Catholic imagination relative to the election of a Pope. It focuses upon certain themes, including the Church’s asking for guidance from the Holy Spirit during this time of transition; the Church’s crying out to God for mercy that we might be found worthy to receive a successor of Peter, who unites the Church in love; and praise for the God, who guides the Church through the twists and turns of history. The playlist is intended to give the listener a disposition of wonder, of contemplation, of prayer to the God who first loved us.”
Does anybody want to add any further suggestions? I'd go for Waiting for the Man by the Velvet Underground, and The Red Shoes by Kate Bush.
When Pope Benedict XVI stepped down he had to hand back his distinctive red Papal shoes. They, and many other shoes worn by different popes over the years, are the work of Italian shoemaker Adriano Stefanelli (left). Photograph: AGF s.r.l./Rex Features Photograph: AGF s.r.l. / Rex Features
In the New York Review of Books, Garry Wills argues that the further the next pope "floats up, away from the real religious life of Catholics, the more he will confirm his historical status as a monarch in a time when monarchs are no longer believable".
With the election of a new pope, the press will repeat old myths — that Christ made Peter the first pope, and that there has been an “apostolic succession” of popes from his time. Scholars, including great Catholic ones like Raymond Brown and Joseph Fitzmyer, have long known that Peter was no pope. He was not even a priest or a bishop — offices that did not exist in the first century. And there is no apostolic succession, just the twists and tangles of interrupted, multiple, and contested office holders. It is a rope of sand. At the beginning of the fifteenth century, for instance, there were three popes, none of whom would resign. A new council had to be called to start all over. It appointed Martin V, on condition that he call frequent councils—a condition he evaded after he was in power.
Here Andrew Brown profiles some of the major frontrunners for pope and explains what they would mean for the Catholic church. Here's what he said about Scola, Scherer and Turkson:
Cardinal Angelo Scola
The son of a truck driver, Scola holds doctorates in philosophy and theology and was professor of theological anthropology at the John Paul II Institute for Studies on Marriage and Family. He was appointed bishop of Grosseto in 1991, patriarch of Venice in 2002, created a cardinal in 2003, and appointed archbishop of Milan in 2011. In spite of his place at the top of the Vatican hierarchy and his academic pedigree, he has urged the church to do more to appeal to the modern world, arguing it needs to build on the second Vatican Council of the 1960s, which proved a landmark moment in Roman Catholic history. An ardent believer in the church's role at the centre of society, Scola has publicly bemoaned its inability to clearly communicate its message on matters such as marriage. He is strongly tipped to replace Benedict.
Cardinal Angelo Scola takes the oath of secrecy inside the Sistine Chapel at the Vatican yesterday. Photograph: AP Photograph: /AP
Cardinal Odilo Scherer
Appointed archbishop of São Paulo in March 2007, Scherer was created a cardinal by Benedict just eight months later. Although he is tipped as a possible papal candidate, his low profile among other cardinals may be problematic. Leading the archdiocese of São Paulo (one of the largest with 6 million members) means Scherer has had to demonstrate his strengths and skills. He claimed in February 2013 that "it's time to have someone from a different culture, someone with new ideas". The cardinal is outspoken on abortion: when Brazil's supreme court voted in 2012 to legalise the termination of foetuses with malformed brains, Scherer asked which group "incompatible with life" would be eliminated next.
Cardinal Odilo Pedro Scherer of Brazil takes the oath of secrecy yesterday. Photograph: AP Photograph: /AP
Cardinal Peter Turkson at the holy mass at St Peter's Basilica yesterday. Photograph: Galazka/Sipa/Rex Features Photograph: Galazka/Sipa/Rex Features/GALAZKA/SIPA / Rex Features
According to the bookies, Angelo Scola of Milan and Odilo Scherer of São Paulo are still the favourites, with Ghana's Peter Turkson a little way behind. Ladbrokes has Scola at 9/4, Scherer at 3/1 and Turkson at 6/1. Paddy Power has Scola at 11/4, Scherer at 7/2 and Turkson at 9/2.
Cardinal Angelo Scola, the archbishop of Milan. Photograph: Jeff J Mitchell/Getty Images Photograph: Jeff J Mitchell/Getty Images
Good morning and welcome back to the Guardian’s live coverage of the papal conclave that is choosing the next pope.
The Vatican conclave began yesterday with the 115 cardinals who will decide which of their number becomes the next head of the Catholic church locking themselves in the Sistine Chapel to begin their deliberations.
A puff of black smoke yesterday evening indicated they had not yet chosen a pope. White smoke would have meant a new pontiff had been picked.
Black smoke from the first vote of the conclave in the Vatican City yesterday. Photograph: Camilla Morandi/Rex Features Photograph: Camilla Morandi / Rex Features
The cardinals will probably have two ballots this morning, followed by a puff of smoke to reveal whether a decision has been reached, followed by another two ballots and another puff of smoke this afternoon.
But if a decision has been reached, white smoke could billow out above the Sistine Chapel at any time.
A two-thirds majority – 77 votes – is needed for outright victory.
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The favourite remains Cardinal Angelo Scola of Milan, with Cardinal Odilo Pedro Scherer in second place. But in truth no figure goes into the conclave with the kind of strong prospects Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger had when he became Pope Benedict XVI in 2005.
Here’s today’s rough schedule:
5.30am GMT-6.30am GMT: Breakfast at St Martha’s House, the residence inside the Vatican walls where the cardinals eat and sleep cut off from the outside world for the duration of the conclave.
6.45am GMT: Departure for Apostolic Palace.
7.15am GMT: Mass in the Pauline Chapel.
8.30am GMT: Prayers and voting in Sistine Chapel. The cardinals can vote twice in the morning. If they have not elected a pope after two votes, black smoke will emerge from the chimney on the roof of the Sistine Chapel. If they have elected a pope, white smoke will emerge after either the first or second ballot of the morning session. Therefore, morning smoke can be expected any time between about 9.30 am and 11.30 am.
11.30am GMT: Departure for St Martha’s.
Midday GMT: Lunch.
3pm GMT: Departure for Sistine Chapel.
3.50pm GMT: Prayers and voting in Sistine Chapel. The cardinals can vote twice in the afternoon. Again, if they have not elected a pope after two votes, black smoke will emerge from the chimney. If they have elected a pope, white smoke will emerge after either the first or second ballot of the afternoon session. Therefore, afternoon smoke can be expected between about 4.30pm and 6.30pm.
6.15pm GMT: Vespers in the Sistine Chapel.
6.30pm GMT: Departure for St Martha’s.
7pm GMT: Dinner.
If no pope has been elected by Friday, the cardinals will hold a day of prayer and reflection on Saturday before resuming their conclave on Sunday.
We’ll have full coverage as long as the conclave lasts here.
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