White smoke from Sistine Chapel indicates new pope elected

Identity of Benedict XVI’s successor expected to be revealed shortly

White smoke is seen pouring from the roof of the Sistine Chapel indicating that the College of Cardinals have elected a new Pope. Photograph: Peter Macdiarmid/Getty Images.


The Catholic church has chosen a new pope.

White smoke is billowing from the chimney of the Sistine Chapel, meaning 115 cardinals in a papal conclave have elected a new leader for the world’s 1.2 billion Catholics.

The new pope is expected to appear on the balcony of St Peter’s Basilica within an hour, after a church official announces “Habemus Papum” — “We have a pope” — and gives the name of the new pontiff in Latin.

The conclave was called after Pope Benedict XVI resigned last month, throwing the church into turmoil and exposing deep divisions among cardinals tasked with finding a manager to clean up a corrupt Vatican bureaucracy as well as a pastor who can revive Catholicism in a time of growing secularism.

Balloting began yesterday and black smoke had poured from the chimney on three occasions since, indicating no agreement had been reached.