White smoke: Conclave of cardinals has voted for a new pope

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St Peters Basilica, Vatican City

The bells of St. Peter’s Basilica rang out and the crowd outside cheered as white smoke emerged from the chimney at the Sistine Chapel at 3:47 pm, Rome time, signaling the successful election of a new pope.

The announcement ends days of anticipation following the death of Pope Francis.

The smoke indicates the 115 cardinal-electors reached a two-thirds majority vote. The traditional smoke signal is produced by burning the ballots with a chemical additive, marked the culmination of a secretive process steeped in centuries of tradition. Black smoke indicated earlier that a vote had failed to reach that majority.

The identity of the new pontiff remains unknown at this writing, but this article will be updated as we learn who will lead the world’s 1.4 billion Catholics.

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