No pope chosen in first vote; conclave will continue today

VATICAN CITY -- Black smoke streamed from the Sistine Chapel's chimney Monday to signal that cardinals failed to select a new pope in their first round of voting, held just hours after they began their historic task: finding a leader capable of building on John Paul II's spiritual energy while keeping modern rifts from tearing deeper into the church.

"It seems white. ... No, no, it's black!" reported Vatican Radio as the first pale wisps slipped out from the narrow pipe and then quickly darkened.

As millions around the world watched on television, at least 40,000 people waited in St. Peter's Square with all eyes on the chimney, where smoke from the burned ballots would give the first word of the conclave: white meaning a new pontiff, black showing that the secret gathering will continue today.

In the last moments of twilight, the pilgrims began to point and gasp. "What is it? White? Black?" hundreds cried out. In a few seconds -- at about 8:05 p.m. -- it was clear the 115 cardinals from six continents could not find the two-thirds majority needed to elect the new leader for the world's 1.1 billion Roman Catholics. Only one vote was held Monday.

Few expected a quick decision. The cardinals have a staggering range of issues to juggle. In the West, they must deal with the fallout from priest sex-abuse scandals and a chronic shortage of priests and nuns. Elsewhere, the church is facing calls for sharper activism against poverty and an easing of its ban on condoms to help combat AIDS.

The next pontiff also must maintain the global ministry of John Paul, who took 104 international trips in his 26-year papacy and is already being hailed as a saint by many faithful.

"Keep praying for the new pope," said 82-year-old Cardinal Luis Aponte Martinez of Puerto Rico, who was too old to join the conclave, open to cardinals only under age 80.

Pulled in two directions

It was the first time in more than a generation that crowds stared at the chimney for the famous smoke and word of a new pope. In that time, the church has been pulled in two directions: a spiritual renaissance under John Paul but battered by scandals and a flock pressing for less rigid teachings.

But in chilly St. Peter's Square, thoughts were only on who will next appear under the crimson drapes at the basilica's central window as the 265th pontiff.

"We thought it was white, then it went black. I had a feeling of exhilaration followed by disappointment," said Harold Reeves, a 35-year-old theology student from Washington.

Even before the conclave began, one of the possible candidates -- German Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger -- tried to set a tone of urgency.

His homily in a special memorial Mass for the pope warned that the church must take a strict line about moral drift and "a dictatorship of relativism" that fights the idea of absolute truths.

Shortly before 5:30 p.m., the papal master of ceremonies, Italian Archbishop Piero Marini, announced "Extra omnes" -- Latin for "all out." The huge oak doors closed behind the papal electors: 113 cardinals in vivid crimson and white robes and two Eastern Rite prelates in black.

Under conclave's rules, four rounds of voting begin today -- two in the morning, two in the afternoon -- until one man gets two-thirds support: 77 votes. If they remain deadlocked late in the second week of voting, they can go to a simple majority: 58 votes.

No conclave in the past century has lasted more than five days, and the election that made John Paul II pope in October 1978 took eight ballots over three days.