Cardinals are continuing to vote in their efforts to choose a new pope, as the secret conclave meeting resumed on Thursday.
Black smoke poured from the Sistine Chapel on Wednesday, confirming no pontiff had been elected after a first round of voting.
The group of 133 cardinal electors began their behind-closed-doors meeting shortly before 5pm UK time that day.
Up to four rounds of voting can take place each full day of conclave, two in the morning and two in the afternoon.
Smoke is only expected up to twice a day, as ballots from two successive rounds are generally burned together if no pope is chosen in either round.
Pope Francis was elected after five ballots, and white smoke on the second day of that conclave confirmed the news to the world in 2013.
The cardinals in this conclave are gathering to elect the 267th pope and have, as is tradition, been cut off from communications with the outside world.
At a pre-conclave mass on Wednesday they were reminded of the “choice of exceptional importance” they must make in electing the next pope.
A new pope requires a two-thirds majority in the voting.
Should the cardinals fail to reach an agreement on a candidate after three days of voting, they are entitled to a one-day break for prayer and free discussion.
Three UK cardinals are taking part in the conclave, Cardinal Vincent Nichols, Cardinal Timothy Radcliffe and Rome-based Cardinal Arthur Roche.
Cardinal Kevin Farrell, who is Irish-born, is considered an American cardinal, having ministered mainly in the US.
Cardinal Nichols had called on people to pray for himself and other cardinals as they embark on the secret voting process, adding that he feels “quite intimidated” knowing the world is watching to see who they choose.
The voting cardinals, those aged under 80 who are the only ones eligible to cast a ballot, were urged to “invoke the help of the Holy Spirit” to help them elect a pope “whom the (Catholic) Church and humanity need at this difficult and complex turning point in history”.
Addressing them in St Peter’s Basilica on Wednesday, Cardinal Giovanni Battista Re said: “To pray, by invoking the Holy Spirit, is the only right and proper attitude to take as the cardinal electors prepare to undertake an act of the highest human and ecclesial responsibility and to make a choice of exceptional importance.
“This is a human act for which every personal consideration must be set aside, keeping in mind and heart only the God of Jesus Christ and the good of the Church and of humanity.”
The pontiff – believed to be someone called to be the successor to St Peter, who was the first pope – will need to be a person who can “awaken the consciences of all and the moral and spiritual energies in today’s society, characterised by great technological progress but which tends to forget God”, Cardinal Battista Re added.
This conclave is thought to be one of the most diverse of any meeting of cardinals, representing some 70 countries and hailing from places such as Mongolia, Sweden and Tonga, which had not had a cardinal before.
Pope Francis had appointed some 108 of the 133 cardinals who will choose his successor.
Dubbed the people’s pope, he was a popular pontiff whose death on Easter Monday sparked tributes from leaders across the world and whose funeral drew hundreds of thousands of mourners.
![Rev. Fr. Anthony Odiong, a US-based Nigerian Louisiana Catholic priest, was arrested in Florida on Tuesday for possessing child pornography, according to law authorities. The suspect is reportedly accused of many other cases of sexual assault. The Waco, Texas, Police Department announced in a Facebook post on Tuesday that officers detained Father Anthony Odiong in Ave Maria, Florida, with assistance from the United States Marshals Service. Waco police announced in March that they had received "credible information" about a sexual assault allegedly committed by Odiong in Texas in 2012. “During the subsequent investigation, a case of possession of child pornography was uncovered,” the police said. The priest was apprehended in Florida by the Caribbean Regional Fugitive Task Force. The Waco Police Department said that he will be extradited to Texas. Odiong had previously served in the Archdiocese of New Orleans before being removed as priest in December of last year due to controversy over homilies in which he claimed, among other things, that the Catholic Church was being taken over by "the gays." At the time, the priest was also accused of abusive behaviour; a Louisiana lady claimed in U.S. bankruptcy court that Odiong had committed both financial and sexual abuse against her. Prior to joining the New Orleans Archdiocese, Odiong served in at least two Texas parishes. On Tuesday, Waco police stated that during their sexual assault investigation, "the presence of other survivors was revealed." “Multiple women have come forward to tell similar experiences as the sexual assault survivor who reported the initial allegation,” the police department said. “Survivors’ experiences ranged from sexual assault and indecent assault, more commonly recognised as groping, and financial abuse, with some survivors experiencing every element of Anthony Odiong’s manipulation.” The police said they “believe there may be more survivors, and we wish to speak with anyone who [has] had similar encounters” with the priest. The Archdiocese of New Orleans issued a brief news release on Tuesday noting Odiong's arrest in Florida. The archdiocese “encourages anyone with any information to contact law enforcement,” the release said.](https://chronicle.ng/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/ezgif-6-4730550ede-450x300.jpg "Odiong: US-based Nigerian Catholic priest convicted over sexual assault")
