Greg, 13, sits in front of a TV here in San Diego ….watching for the white smoke.
“It’s white!” he said. “No, it’s dark…” And doesn’t want to change the channel..
From San Diego, to New York, to Madrid, to Rome — people all over the world in every continent and all religions are watching for the dawn of a new era that’ll be signalled by historical white smoke at the Sistine Chapel. It could mean the continuation of the style and content of Pope John Paul II’s papacy…or a different direction and style.
But nothing starts until we see the white smoke.
From the Sydney Morning Herald:
The contest to become the next pope has gone to a third round. The 115 cardinals charged with electing the new head of the Catholic Church failed for a second time to choose a name, and last night were preparing to hold two new ballots before the end of the day.The black smoke that traditionally signals an impasse floated out of the tall, thin stack on the Sistine Chapel yesterday, disappointing the thousands of worshippers gathered outside in St Peter’s Square.
“Maybe tonight, but surely tomorrow,” the priests, nuns, Romans and villagers said as they filed off to lunch.
On Monday, when the black smoke first appeared, some in the crowd thought the plumes were white – the sign a new pope has been chosen – and mistakenly cried “Bianca, bianca” and cheered. “What a tease!” said a young American woman afterwards.
Smoke….black representing indecision and debate. White reprsenting
hope and a papacy-about-to-begin’s dreams…
Independent Online:
Vatican City – As the first wisps of smoke appeared, signalling the end of a vote in the Vatican’s sealed Sistine Chapel, there was an audible gasp from the thousands gathered to witness the election of a new pope.But the excitement on the packed St Peter’s Square soon turned to uncertainty as the crowds struggled for the second day in a row to agree on the colour of the smoke – which reveals the outcome of the vote – against the cloudy Rome sky.
“It looked black, then white, then black. People started cheering. I thought I was going to have heart failure,” Karen Martello, a tourist from New York said breathlessly, as she squinted to see the smoke still rising from the chapel roof.
All because of the suspense — the suspense of the smoke.
And how did the smoke begin as marking the beginning of a new church era? Newsday explains:
It’s unclear when the tradition began, but smoke signals have been used continuously since at least 1878.There is little record of color confusion until the 1958 conclave, when the damp straw that the cardinals had added to their burning ballots apparently failed to catch, and the initial smoke was white.
There was some confusion Monday when the first wisps of smoke appeared white to some observers. But it quickly became clear that it was black.
The Vatican said after Pope John Paul II’s death that special chemicals would be added to help avoid confusion.
Archbishop Piero Marini, master of ceremonies for liturgical celebrations, also has said when a new pope is chosen, the Vatican will ring the bells of St. Peter’s Basilica, in addition to burning the ballots, “to make the election of the pope clearer.”
But when the bells rang Tuesday and black smoke poured from the chimney, people in St. Peter’s Square were further confused. It soon became clear that the bells were simply tolling because it was noon.
And soon the suspense will be over, as they hear the bells and see…the white smoke.
Joe Gandelman is a former fulltime journalist who freelanced in India, Spain, Bangladesh and Cypress writing for publications such as the Christian Science Monitor and Newsweek. He also did radio reports from Madrid for NPR’s All Things Considered. He has worked on two U.S. newspapers and quit the news biz in 1990 to go into entertainment. He also has written for The Week and several online publications, did a column for Cagle Cartoons Syndicate and has appeared on CNN.