Black smoke poured from the Sistine Chapel chimney Tuesday, signaling the cardinals have yet to cast their first vote in the papal conclave to choose a new leader for the world's 1.2 billion Catholics, according to the Associated Press.
Over the past two weeks since Pope Benedict XVI resigned, cardinals locked themselves into the Sistine chapel, even as revelations of corruption and mismanagement in the Vatican bureaucracy were brought to public view.
Thousands of packed St. Peter's Square on Tuesday, with their eyes fixed on the narrow chimney poking out of the Sistine Chapel roof. Three hours later, the thick black smoke billowed out of the chimney, indicating that a new pope was not elected.
The cardinals now return to the Vatican hotel for the night and resume voting on Wednesday morning.
Benedict XVI's surprise resignation has thrown the church into turmoil, and "exposed deep divisions among cardinals grappling with whether they need a manager to clean up the Vatican's dysfunctional bureaucracy or a pastor who can inspire Catholics at a time of waning faith and growing secularism," the AP reported.
The leading contenders for pope have fallen into one of the two camps, with Cardinal Angelo Scola, seen as the favorite by those hoping to shake up the powerful Vatican bureaucracy, while Brazilian Cardinal Odilo Scherer, is liked by Vatican-based insiders who defend the status quo.
"Each of us is therefore called to cooperate with the Successor of Peter, the visible foundation of such an ecclesial unity," retired Cardinal Angelo Sodano said. He said the job of pope is to be merciful, charitable and "tirelessly promote justice and peace."
"I know well how we were exposed to those images in the hour of the important decisions, how they challenged us and how they instilled in our souls the greatness of our responsibility," Benedict, the former Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, who resigned two weeks ago, said in 2003.
