At the end of each voting round, black smoke means a new pope has not yet to be selected, while white smoke indicates a new pope has been chosen.

Black smoke rising from the Sistine Chapel chimney on Wednesday and again Thursday morning indicated that a new pope had not been chosen to replace Pope Francis on the first ballot.Using smoke to communicate to the public whether a new pope has been elected is somewhat a recent tradition for the Catholic Church.

The temporary chimney atop the Sistine Chapel released a plume of white smoke on Thursday, signaling that the 133 cardinals working inside had reached a two-thirds majority to elect a new pope for the Catholic Church.