A new pope has officially been elected as white smoke poured from the chimney of the Sistine Chapel and the great bells of St. Peter’s Basilica tolled.
The sights and sounds signaled cardinals have now elected the 267th pope to lead the Catholic Church.
The crowd in St. Peter’s Square erupted in cheers, priests made the sign of the cross and nuns wept as the crowd shouted, “Viva il papa!” after the white smoke wafted into the late afternoon sky.
The smoke means the winner secured at least 89 votes of the 133 cardinals participating in the conclave to elect a successor to Pope Francis.
So what happens next?
The name will be announced later, when a top cardinal utters the words “Habemus Papam!” — Latin for “We have a pope!” — from the loggia of the basilica. The cardinal then reads the winner’s birth name in Latin and reveals the name he has chosen to be called.
In past recent conclaves, the announcement was made between 25 and 66 minutes after the white smoke was released. The white smoke was first seen at approximately 11:07 a.m. CT.
NBC 5’s Mary Ann Ahern, who is in Rome, said timing estimates sit at about an hour.
The new pope is then expected to make his first public appearance and impart a blessing from the same loggia, though the timing of that can also vary.
Francis appeared 10 minutes after the announcement, while Benedict XVI took only five minutes. John Paul II took 15 minutes.
The voting process was quick. For much of the past century, the conclave has needed between three and 14 ballots to find a pope.
John Paul I — the pope who reigned for 33 days in 1978 — was elected on the fourth ballot. His successor, John Paul II, needed eight. Francis was elected on the fifth in 2013.
Still, it’s hard to say precisely. The Vatican doesn’t officially publish the number of votes in past conclaves, and sources compiling their own tallies don’t completely agree. But historical data provide a few clues.
The longest conclave since the 20th century began took 14 rounds of balloting across five days, ending with the election of Pius XI in 1922. The shortest, electing Pius XII in 1939, took three ballots over two days.
Cardinals needed to reach a two-thirds majority to elect a pope.
Check back for more on this developing story.
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