VATICAN CITY
Reuters
By Barry Moody and Philip Pullella
VATICAN CITY | Wed Mar 13, 2013
(Reuters) – Black smoke billowed from the Sistine Chapel for a second day on Wednesday after a secret conclave of cardinals held two more inconclusive votes for a new pope to lead the troubled Roman Catholic Church.
Following an initial split ballot when they were first shut away amid the chapel’s Renaissance splendor on Tuesday evening, the 115 cardinal electors held a first full day of deliberations but many Vatican watchers expected the waiting to go on.
Once a new pontiff is elected, white smoke will rise from the makeshift chimney in the roof and the bells of St. Peter’s Basilica will ring. But for the time being, none of the cardinals has garnered the two-thirds majority required.
Vatican spokesman Father Federico Lombardi denied suggestions of any splits between the cardinals in the run-up to the conclave and said the election was proceeding normally.
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