Conclave (Wednesday Morning): Ballot 1+2 – Black smoke

March 13, 2013: The one hundred and fifteen Cardinal electors from around the world on Wednesday began their second day of the Conclave to elect the Catholic Church’s 266^th Pope. But it was clear shortly after 11.40 am with black smoke signaling that the Cardinals have been unsuccessful in electing a new pope at their second and third ballot today morning.
The Cardinals now return to the Santa Marta guesthouse within the Vatican where they are staying for the duration of the conclave. They will return to the Sistine Chapel for another two ballots this afternoon beginning at 4pm. Unless a Pope is elected in the first of the two ballots this afternoon, we are unlikely to see any smoke emerging from the Sistine Chapel chimney until around 7:30 p.m. local time.
Today all roads have been literally leading to Rome and to St. Peter’s square. By the time the black, think smoke rose, there were thousands who flocked at St. Peter's Square in spite of the cold, rainy morning. One could see endless number of umbrellas in all possible colors, as if like a multi-colored garland, awaiting the new Pope.
The cardinals held their first ballot on Tuesday in Sistine Chapel in the Vatican to elect a pope. But it was evident shortly after 7.40 pm that they have not reached a successful conclusion, with black smoke signaling no winner on the first day of their conclave. The 115 Cardinal electors had entered the Sistine Chapel at about 4:30 local time on Tuesday (12 March) and opened the conclave by taking a solemn oath of fidelity and secrecy. After prayer and meditation and after the last of the non-electors had left the chapel, the senior Cardinal responsible for the proceedings, Giovanni Battista Re, asked his fellow Cardinals to proceed with the voting for the 265th Successor of Peter.
The conclave began 12 days after Benedict XVI became the first pope in modern times to renounce the throne of Peter.
Vatican television showed the conclave's opening pageantry. They glided two by two from the Pauline Chapel in the Apostolic Palace, through the Sala Reggia and into the Sistine Chapel, approached the altar and bowed before it.
They took their places behind tables placed along the length of the chapel's walls, with green ritual books, red folders and folded placards with their names on them. They placed their birettas - square, peaked crimson hats - in front of them.
The cardinals, led by Cardinal Giovanni Battista Re, an Italian and the senior cardinal present, collectively swore, in Latin, to maintain secrecy and obedience to the constitution on papal transition. They also made an oath that if elected they would faithfully carry out the duties of a pope and defend the Holy See.