Black Smoke Pouring From Vatican Chimney Means No Pope Yet; Next Papal Conclave Vote At 4PM Vatican Time

Wednesday morning at 11:39 Vatican City time, black smoke was seen pouring out of the Vatican Chimney, signaling to the millions of Catholics around the world that their church remains without a leader.

Only when the smoke is white will a new Pope have been elected. Because of the black smoke, the 115 Cardinals voting on the new Pope will vote another two times today. The next vote will take place at 4pm Vatican time (11am ET).

Thousands of faithful Catholics are crowded inside of Saint Peter's Square staring up at the chimney on top of the Vatican waiting to see either white or black smoke.

The black smoke that billowed out of the chimney was a deep and dark black.

In the past, people in Saint Peter's Square have complained that they could not tell the difference between the two colors because the smoke would come out of the chimney a grayish color.

The Vatican is not taking any chances about any confusion regarding the election of the new Pope. Abandoning the tradition of using wet straw to give the smoke its black color, the church has moved on to a more modern tactic and has begun using chemicals to give the black smoke its color.

The history of the Papal Conclave dates back to Pope Gregory X (1271-1276). It took the Cardinals three years to reach a decision and elect Gregory Pope. In an effort to avoid a repeat of the three-year vote, Pope Gregory created the tradition of the Conclave.

For the first 3-days, Cardinals would only receive one meal per day. If the Conclave took longer they would be reduced to only bread and wine.

Today Cardinals are allowed more than one meal and can leave the Sistine Chapel in order to have a meal.

The candidate for Pope will need a total of 77 out of 115 votes in order become the new leader of the Catholic Church.