Good afternoon, Andrew Walsh with you here.

Since before the sun rose on Rome this morning, the Vatican has been filling up with thousands of spectators ahead of the first day of the papal conclave.

The Journal’s Diarmuid Pepper is currently in the Vatican, where he says that there’s “loads of pilgrims”.

It’s busy with media at the Vatican, but busier still among the faithful. It’s a Jubilee year within the Church and there’s loads of pilgrims @thejournal_ie pic.twitter.com/AK11xzo7ip

— Diarmuid Pepper (@Diarmuid_9) May 7, 2025

Cardinals from around the world joined a special mass earlier at St Peter’s Basilica in the Vatican ahead of the conclave.

The mass, presided over by the dean of the College of Cardinals, Giovanni Battista Re, is the last rite celebrated publicly before the cardinals are locked in to choose a successor to Pope Francis.

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All cardinals due to take part the conclave were in attendance at the mass, as well as thousands of members of the public.

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Cardinal Dolan, the archbishop of New York, has shared a video on social media asking the public to “keep us in your prayers”.

“I won’t be able to talk to you until you see the white smoke,” Dolan said, explaining that cardinals’ movements will be heavily restricted during the voting process.

Dolan received an endorsement for the papal position from Donald Trump last week, after the US president jokingly told reporters outside the White House that he would “like to be pope”.

This is the day we enter the conclave and I’m about to go into the Domus Sanctae Marthae, named after St. Martha, who took care of hospitality for Jesus. We leave here and go over to the Sistine Chapel every day for prayers and voting, but this is where we reside. I won’t be able… pic.twitter.com/uO0zGdrwbo

— Cardinal Dolan (@CardinalDolan) May 7, 2025

At 4.30pm Rome time (3.30pm Irish time), the 133 cardinal electors will assemble in Pauline Chapel in the Apostolic Palace before entering the Sistine Chapel for the conclave.

It’s the largest conclave in history, and could have been larger still but for two absences due to illness.

It’s near impossible that someone will be elected on the first count and black smoke is expected at around 7pm Rome time.

Then it’s back to the Sistine Chapel the following morning for two rounds of voting, followed by two further rounds in the afternoon, until the Catholic Church has a new leader following the death of Pope Francis.

Some shots from two important rooms tied to the election of a new Pope: the Sistine Chapel, now prepared for the conclave, and the "Room of Tears", a small room next to the Sistine Chapel where the Pope dons the white papal vestments for the first time. pic.twitter.com/i1dtRq6i5l

— Vatican News (@VaticanNews) May 6, 2025

Crowds continue to grow in the Vatican ahead of the start of the conclave, our own Diarmuid Pepper reports from the scene

People leaving St Peter’s Basilica and then running the media gauntlet have been saying it’s all a bit crazy. You can see why here @thejournal_ie pic.twitter.com/aPgD0uT3Hq

— Diarmuid Pepper (@Diarmuid_9) May 7, 2025

Yesterday, cardinals had to give up their phones, tablets, laptops, and radios ahead of the conclave.

Meanwhile, it was deemed that closed doors are not enough to maintain secrecy, nor is the oath of secrecy that cardinals must take.

The floor of the Sistine Chapel where the conclave takes place has been altered to prevent trip hazards, but there are also reports that signal jammers are placed under the temporary floor to prevent electronic surveillance.

Diarmuid Pepper has taken a look at the measures being taken to ensure the conclave’s secrecy

There’s now less than 20 minutes to go until the conclave formally begins – here’s a look at the sizeable media scrum gathered in the Vatican.

Less than half an hour to go before cardinals gather in the Sistine Chapel to begin the conclave to elect the 267th pope @thejournal_ie pic.twitter.com/UH4Z2l21Xr

— Diarmuid Pepper (@Diarmuid_9) May 7, 2025

The Vatican have released photos of the Sistine Chapel, which has been specially prepared for the conclave today. Take a look:

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Cardinals have begun to gather in the Pauline Chapel in the Apostolic Palace as they prepare to enter the Sistine Chapel for the conclave. 

At around 5.30pm local time (4.30pm Irish time), everyone but the cardinal electors must leave the Sistine Chapel – the moment “extra omnes” is announced marks the beginning of the cardinals’ isolation, and the start of the conclave.

Once the doors close, the cardinals will fill out ballots marked “Eligo in Summum Pontificem”, or “I elect as Supreme Pontiff”.

They then carry the folded ballots and place them on a silver plate which is used to tip them into an urn, set on a table in front of Michelangelo’s Last Judgment.

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And so it begins with prayer in the Pauline Chapel, which is being live-streamed to St Peter’s Square. From here, it’s into the Sistine Chapel for the first round of voting @thejournal_ie pic.twitter.com/W0a7PYfHxA

— Diarmuid Pepper (@Diarmuid_9) May 7, 2025

Cardinals are currently filing into their seats in the Sistine Chapel ahead of the first vote, as they take part in a solemn Latin chant called the Litany of the Saints. 

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The formal procession of cardinals to the Sistine Chapel from the Pauline Chapel was not led not by the dean of the College of Cardinals, Giovanni Battista Re, as he is too old to take part in the conclave.

It was instead led by Pietro Parolin, the Vatican’s secretary of state, who is also one of the leading contenders to be selected as the next pope.

That thing you can hear is the intercession of the saints, as Cardinals make their way into the Sistine Chapel to begin voting. @thejournal_ie pic.twitter.com/7U4M1x8KaL

— Diarmuid Pepper (@Diarmuid_9) May 7, 2025

The ceremony continues, with Parolin leading the prayers asking for “the spirit of intelligence, truth and peace” to “serve you with total dedication.”

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The cardinals are currently making individual oaths with their hand on the bible, swearing to complete secrecy about the process of the conclave. “I promise, I vow and I swear”, the oath reads.

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Thousands of onlookers in St. Peter’s Square eagerly watch on as the 133 cardinals continue to make their individual oaths in the Sistine Chapel.

Cardinals from Europe make up the biggest group of those with a vote, and a total of 108 of all the voting cardinals were appointed by Francis.

View from the Square as Cardinals prepare for the first ballot @thejournal_ie pic.twitter.com/hBf6A5Dvzf

— Diarmuid Pepper (@Diarmuid_9) May 7, 2025

A smattering of applause was heard in St. Peter’s Square when Cardinal Luis Antonio Tagle appeared on screen.

Tagle, aged 67, is among the leading contenders to become the next pope, although he was accused of “betraying the Catholic teachings” by Catholic traditionalists after a video of him singing John Lennon’s Imagine in 2019 emerged on social media.

More from the Square as Cardinals prepare to vote in the Conclave, there was even a smattering by if applause just after the video ended for Cardinal Luis Antonio Tagle @thejournal_ie pic.twitter.com/23lX2hHFcu

— Diarmuid Pepper (@Diarmuid_9) May 7, 2025

The last of the electing cardinals has made their oath – and the words “extra omnes” have been uttered by Archbishop Diego Ravelli, the Vatican’s master of ceremonies, ordering all those not taking part in the conclave to leave the Sistine Chapel.

All those who are not voting in the conclave are now leaving the room so that the vote can begin.

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Archbishop Diego Ravelli, the Vatican’s master of ceremonies, has now closed the doors – the conclave has officially begun.

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Our own Diarmuid Pepper watched the dramatic door closure live in St. Peter’s Square.

And there’s the Sistine Chapel closed shut ahead of the first ballot. Virtually impossible for a new pope to be elected though, given you need a two-thirds majority. Rather, cardinals use this ballot to ascertain the lay of the land. @thejournal_ie pic.twitter.com/v9zU1OnoLl

— Diarmuid Pepper (@Diarmuid_9) May 7, 2025

And there’s Irish-born Cardinal Kevin Farrell, who came to media prominence given his role in announcing Pope Francis’s death as Camerlengo @thejournal_ie pic.twitter.com/Dpw8Lg84Rz

— Diarmuid Pepper (@Diarmuid_9) May 7, 2025

All eyes now move to the chimney located at the top of the Sistine Chapel. 

Following each round of votes by the cardinals, smoke will emerge from the chimney – the smoke will be black if nobody has achieved a two-thirds majority of the votes, or white if a new pope has been elected.

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For those seeking some visual clarity on how the secretive conclave works, you can copy what some of the cardinals attending their first papal vote have done – watch the Hollywood film Conclave.

According to Politico, a number of cardinals faced with the highly secretive and complex ritual of choosing a new pope have turned to the Ralph Fiennes-led flick for pointers on how the conclave could all play out.

“Some have watched it in the cinema,” a cleric involved in the real thing admitted to Politico.

As speculation begins on the identity of the next pope, the names of a number of likely candidates continue to circle around the Vatican.

While nothing is set in stone, the two current frontrunners seem to be Pietro Parolin, the Vatican’s secretary of state, and Luis Antonio Tagle, a cardinal from the Philippines.

Parolin has held the number two position in the Vatican since 2013, meaning he is well-known among cardinals and remains “papabile”, a likely candidate.

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Tagle, former archbishop of Manila who currently leads the church’s evangelisation programmes from the Vatican, would be the first Asian pope in recent history. Tagle is popularly referred to as the “Asian Francis”, as his style of leadership is similar to the late Pope Francis’s pastoral approach. 

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Other likely candidates include Matteo Zuppi, an Italian whose ideals largely align with the late Francis, and Peter Turkson, a cardinal from Ghana seen as more moderate.

Despite these cardinals apprearing to be the most likely to succeed Francis, it is hard to predict how the voting will go – as the old papal election saying goes, “he who enters the conclave as pope, leaves it as a cardinal”.

Interest in the chimney of the Sistine Chapel seems to be fairly widespread – a number of seagulls have surrounded the smokestack since conclave voting began.

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My colleauge Diarmuid Pepper is in Rome where the results of the first eleciton is imminent. 

He details that cameramen from the Vatican have ‘trolled’ the crowds of people watching the live broadcast of the event with a close up of the chimney, but there is no update yet.

Vatican cameramen trolling the crowd with a close up of the chimney, though the fire fighters and photographers are in place @thejournal_ie pic.twitter.com/uW6dozifza

— Diarmuid Pepper (@Diarmuid_9) May 7, 2025

The voting cardinals have been locked into the Sistine Chapel for almost two hours now and the result of the first vote is expected in the next few minutes. 

Screen with a live broadcast of the doors closing the voting cardinals into the conclave. Alamy Alamy

A giant screen has been set up for viewers in St Peter’s Basilica and one would expect that all eyes are now glued to it.

A new update from Diarmuid Pepper in Rome. He theorises that whoever estimated the results of the first vote to be announced at 6.30pm may not have taken into account that this is the largest-ever conclave.

A total of 132 cardinals are locked in the Sistine Chapel, with one more at the Santa Marta guesthouse due to illness. Someone will be sent to collect the vote of that voting cardinal which – with traffic in Rome – may be the result of the delay.

Most Vatican observers had said to expect black smoke by 7.30pm Rome time. Perhaps they didn’t account for this being the largest conclave in history, with 133 cardinal electors @thejournal_ie pic.twitter.com/n59wAwRZrn

— Diarmuid Pepper (@Diarmuid_9) May 7, 2025

We are keeping our eyes on the chimney at The Vatican for the foreseeable future.

There are audible claps from the crowd at St Peter’s Bacillica attempting to count down the announcement of the result of the first vote.

Faithful wait in St. Peter's Square as Cardinals are gathered in the Sistine Chapel for the Conclave at the Vatican. Alamy Alamy

It’s been more than an hour past the time most Vatican observers said that we could expect to see smoke.

For those just joining, we’ve been keeping an eye on the Sistine Chapel chimney for the past two hours, waiting to see the smoke that indicates whether the cardinals have chosen a new pope.

More than an hour past the time most Vatican observers said we could expect to see smoke @thejournal_ie pic.twitter.com/jAECsF6qhW

— Diarmuid Pepper (@Diarmuid_9) May 7, 2025

Darkness has now enveloped the chimney, as it has just hit 9pm in Rome. Still no sign of any smoke.

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Black smoke!

Expectedly, a new pope has not been elected following the first round of voting by cardinals at the Sistine Chapel.

There was an audible groan from the crowd at St. Peter’s Square who have gathered for hours to wait for the result.

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In an unfortunate twist for the onlooking crowds in St. Peter’s Square, screens displaying a live view of the chimney went blank shortly after the black smoke emerged.

And there we have it, the black smoke billows from the chimney moments after the big screens went blank! @thejournal_ie pic.twitter.com/ncfGCozIEz

— Diarmuid Pepper (@Diarmuid_9) May 7, 2025

So what happens tomorrow?

Cardinals will begin their day with breakfast at around 6.30am (5.30am Irish time) at the Casa Santa Marta, the Vatican guesthouse where they are staying during the conclave.

After breakfast, they will attend mass before returning to the Sistine Chapel for up to four more rounds of voting in the ongoing process to elect the new pope.

The cardinals remain under strict seclusion during the conclave and are not permitted any contact with the outside world.

Their accommodation at the Casa Santa Marta – a five-storey residence with 106 suites, 22 single rooms, and a state apartment – ensures privacy and focus during this solemn period.

While the duration of a conclave is unpredictable, it’s worth noting that both of the last two popes (Francis and Benedict XVI) were elected on the second day, so attention will be high on tomorrow’s ballots.

After the long delay this evening, it’s hard to predict how the rest of the process will go. 

If you want to know more about the conclave, my colleague Diarmuid Pepper outlined the process and all it entails here.

That is all from us tonight, thanks for joining us.

Here’s the view facing people as they leave St Peter’s Square after the black smoke, with media from all over the world at work @thejournal_ie pic.twitter.com/hPabNLbs3Q

— Diarmuid Pepper (@Diarmuid_9) May 7, 2025