Cardinals from five continents began the centuries-old rituals to elect a successor to Pope Francis on Wednesday, sealing themselves inside the Sistine Chapel to vote in secret.
They held a final mass in St Peter's Basilica in the Vatican before gathering for the conclave to choose the 267th pontiff, who will lead the world's 1.4 billion Catholics.
The dean of the College of Cardinals, Cardinal Giovanni Battista Re, presided over the service, urging the voters to set aside all personal interests and find a pope who prizes unity. At 91, Cardinal Re will not enter the conclave, which is reserved for cardinals under the age of 80.
He prayed that the cardinals making up the most geographically diverse conclave in the faith’s 2,000-year history can agree “on the pope that our time needs”, saying it requires a “leader who can awaken consciences”.
Pope Francis, who died last month aged 88, named 108 of the 133 “princes of the church” including younger ones from the “global south” which has injected an unusual degree of uncertainty in a process that will end when smoke signals a decision has been made.
They will burn their ballots, with black smoke from a chimney on the roof of the chapel marking an inconclusive vote and white smoke and the peeling of bells signalling a decision has been made.
On Wednesday evening, after the conclave had met for several hours, black smoke was seen at the Vatican.
The pontiff is believed to be someone called as the successor to St Peter, who was the first pope.
“Wait and see, a little patience, wait and see,” said Cardinal Mario Zenari, the Vatican’s ambassador to Syria.
Under the ceiling of frescoes painted by Michelangelo, Italian Cardinal Pietro Parolin – the senior elector – was tasked with calling on God to give the cardinals “the spirit of intelligence, truth and peace” needed for their task.
Cardinal Parolin, a front-runner who was Pope Francis's number two as secretary of state, was then leading a chant of the Latin invocation of the Holy Spirit: Veni, Creator Spiritus.
While cardinals this week said they expected a short conclave, it is likely to take at least a few rounds of voting.
No pope has been elected on the first day of a conclave for centuries, so voting could continue for several days before someone receives the necessary two-thirds majority.
For much of the past century, it has taken 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. Pope Francis was elected on the fifth in 2013.
The cardinals were expected to take a first vote on Wednesday, with four votes allowed on following days.
No clear favourite has emerged, but some names keep appearing on lists of “papabile”, or cardinals having the qualities to be pope, including Cardinal Parolin, 70, Filipino Cardinal Luis Tagle, 67, who would be the first Asian pope, and Hungarian Cardinal Peter Erdo, 72, the archbishop of Budapest, who would represent the more conservative wing of the church.
Among other potential candidates are France's Jean-Marc Aveline, American Robert Prevost and Italy's Pierbattista Pizzaballa, the Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem.
At a time of geopolitical uncertainty, the new pope faces diplomatic balancing acts, as well as Church infighting, the continued fallout from the clerical child abuse scandal, and – in the West – increasingly empty pews.
