Black smoke, which emerged at 21.00 on Wednesday evening from the Sistine Chapel’s chimney has signalled that a new pope has not been elected in the first ballot at the conclave.
Agency reports said that about 45,000 people had gathered in St Peter’s Square to await the announcement, which had been expected some time after 7.00 pm. In the end, they had to wait until 9.00 pm.
Among those in the square was Deacon Nicholas Nkoronko from Tanzania.
Speaking on the development he said “Our role here is to pray and to join with other Christians, other Catholics, to pray for the Holy Spirit to guide the whole process.
“Wherever the new Pope comes from”, Deacon Nkoronko stressed, “whether it’s Africa, Asia, America, what we need is we need a holy Pope. We need a Pope who will guide the Church and will be the pastor of the Church.”
