Conclave’s 1st day ends with black smoke
May 08, 2025
Following the morning Mass for the election of the Roman Pontiff, the conclave to elect the 267th pope began on the afternoon of May 7, with the procession of the 133 cardinal electors from the Pauline Chapel to the Sistine Chapel and the swearing of the oath of secrecy (booklet, video).
Archbishop Diego Ravelli pronounced the words “Extra omnes” (“outside, all,” video). Cardinal Raniero Cantalamessa, OFM Cap, the preacher of the papal household from 1980 to 2024, then preached a meditation to the cardinal electors; the general congregation of cardinals selected him for this task on April 24, three days after Pope Francis’s death.
Black smoke emerged from the chimney in the evening (video), indicating that the cardinal electors did not elect a new pope on the first ballot.
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