LEILA FADEL, HOST:
The world is watching the Vatican this morning as 133 cardinals work to choose which of them will be the next pope. Black smoke rose again earlier today from the chimney of the Sistine Chapel, indicating no pope has been chosen yet. NPR's Ruth Sherlock takes us to St. Peter's Square.
RUTH SHERLOCK, BYLINE: It's extremely unlikely that there will be white smoke this early on. But nonetheless, St. Peter's Square is full of people. And one thing you notice - this is a very religious crowd. It's priests, nuns, monks.
VICENTE GOES: I came to evoke the Holy Spirit.
SHERLOCK: Vicente Goes (ph) is a Jesuit student of philosophy in Rome, and he says people haven't come because they think a pope will be elected so quickly.
GOES: The majority of the people - there's a feeling of the need to pray because this is a time where we are with this sensation of vertigo. We are in the hands of God.
SHERLOCK: Everybody's got excited. They've got their phones out. The big screens here in St. Peter's Square have zeroed in on the chimney. There's a seagull on the chimney with a prime view.
LISA MALFATTI: The most famous seagull in the world right now (laughter).
SHERLOCK: Lisa Malfatti (ph) has come all the way from California for the conclave.
MALFATTI: It's meaningful for the world because we are at a turning point with Catholicism.
SHERLOCK: With many people in the West turning away from the faith, as we speak, the hours pass - way past the time the results of this first vote were expected. People sing.
UNIDENTIFIED GROUP: (Singing) Hallelujah, hallelujah.
SHERLOCK: Every time the seagull comes back, the crowd claps and laughs.
(APPLAUSE)
SHERLOCK: And now they're clapping also to try to send a message - please, send this smoke.
UNIDENTIFIED PERSON #1: Maybe.
UNIDENTIFIED PERSON #2: (Laughter).
SHERLOCK: Even the priests are starting to look tired.
Until eventually...
They have it. It's hard to tell in the darkness, but it is black smoke. Today is not the day the Catholic Church gets its new Pope.
Ruth Sherlock, NPR News, St. Peter's Square, the Vatican.
(SOUNDBITE OF MUSIC) Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
NPR transcripts are created on a rush deadline by an NPR contractor. This text may not be in its final form and may be updated or revised in the future. Accuracy and availability may vary. The authoritative record of NPR’s programming is the audio record.
