Black Smoke, No Pope

VATICAN CITY (AP) -- 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 Tuesday.

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.

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.

In Rome, Tens of thousands await new pope
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.

Added 20-year-old Italian student Silvia Mariano: "You can't describe the feeling. When the smoke came out it looked white and I got chills."

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.

"Having a clear faith, based on the creed of the church, is often labeled today as a fundamentalism," said Ratzinger, 78, who has been the Vatican's chief overseer of doctrine since 1981. "Whereas relativism, which is letting oneself be tossed and 'swept along by every wind of teaching,' looks like the only attitude acceptable to today's standards."

Only after listing a series of perceived threats to the church - from Marxism to "radical individualism" - did he note the duty ahead for the cardinals, who must remain cut off from all outside contact until they pick a new pontiff.

"At this time, above all, we pray with insistence to the Lord, so that after the great gift of Pope John Paul II, he again gives us a pastor according to his own heart, a pastor who guides us to knowledge in Christ, to his love and to true joy," he said from the main altar in St. Peter's Basilica under the towering bronze baldacchino canopy from the 17th century.

About five hours later, the cardinals assembled for the procession into the Sistine Chapel.

Ratzinger, dean of the College of Cardinals, read out an oath for complete secrecy about the voting. Then he began a prayer in Latin. "May the Lord lead our steps on the path of truth," it began.

Walking two by two, they chanted the Litany of the Saints. Altar servers carrying two long, burning candles and a metal crucifix led the way, past a line of Swiss Guards in red-plumed hats and up two marble steps into the chapel - where two rows of tables and chairs were set up for the voting and deliberations.

They bowed before the altar, with its backdrop of Michelangelo's "Last Judgment" depicting Jesus among people ascending to heaven and falling to hell. Then they took their places, which were marked by white name cards.

Each was provided a green book, "Ordo Rituum Conclavis," which spells out rules for the conclave. Only two of the cardinals were at the last conclave more than 26 years ago.

Some leaned on their chairs for support as the cardinals filed one by one to the Gospels, which rested open on a wooden stand.

For 30 minutes, they each placed a right hand - with the gold ring of the cardinals - on the Holy Book and again pledged never to reveal what will occur in the conclave. The penalty is severe: excommunication.

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.

In St. Peter's Square, thousands of pilgrims watching a Vatican video feed broke into applause at the image of the doors swinging shut.

"Viva il papa," chanted some Italian schoolgirls. "Long live the pope."

Two Rome-based nuns from Congo planned to pray before the tomb of John Paul II in a grotto under the basilica.

"We want to join the cardinals spiritually as they elect a new pope," said Sister Catherine Mabisombi, 48, dressed in an African print outfit.

She looked over to the papal residence, where the shutters remained closed.

"Seeing (the pope's) windows closed now gives us a strange feeling," she said. "We feel the need to know that someone is guiding the church."

Under conclave's rules, four rounds of voting begin Tuesday - 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.