Watch as cardinals elect a recent pope with white smoke rising from the Sistine Chapel on Thursday evening (8 May).
Millions now await the announcement of the brand new head of the Catholic Church after the choice made on Thursday by 133 cardinals who gathered within the Sistine Chapel for the historic vote.
They got here together at 4.30 pm local time on Wednesday within the Fifteenth-century chapel for the primary ballot, which was inconclusive, but reconvened for 3 more sessions of voting before reaching a two-thirds majority, which was signalled when the white smoke appeared about 6pm local time on Thursday.
The signal of the historic decision prompted cheers from the group of faithful in St Peter’s Square, a lot of whom travelled internationally to come back together and await the choice.

