Cardinals Face Deadlock in 2025 Papal Conclave After First Vote Fails to Elect New Pope

• by Arlen Fitzpatrick
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Cardinals Hit Stalemate in Papal Election’s Opening Round

The atmosphere inside the Vatican is tense. On May 7, 2025, 133 cardinal electors filled the iconic Sistine Chapel, ready to decide the future of the Catholic Church. Their mission was clear: select a new pope to succeed Pope Francis, whose death just over two weeks ago left the Holy See’s highest office vacant.

From the start, this was no ordinary day. The cardinals began with a solemn morning Mass at St. Peter’s Basilica, led by Cardinal Giovanni Battista Re. Clad in scarlet, they processed into the Sistine Chapel, surrounded by Renaissance masterpieces and centuries of tradition, where they all took the required oaths of secrecy. Only then did the actual voting get underway—each cardinal writing a single name on their ballot and dropping it before the altar under the watchful eyes of their peers.

But as darkness fell over St. Peter’s Square that evening, black smoke rolled out of the chapel’s famous chimney. That was Vatican shorthand for one thing: ‘No pope yet.’ Not one of those 133 cardinals managed to unite the supermajority needed—89 votes—to claim the papacy. This wasn’t a rare occurrence, but that familiar plume of smoke seemed to channel a mix of anticipation and disappointment through the crowd gathered below. Phones flashed, prayers murmured, and conversations circled among pilgrims and journalists about what might come next.

What’s Next for the Conclave—And the Church?

So, what happens now? The cardinals will reconvene behind those locked doors for another round of secret ballots. Each day, they can vote up to four more times, morning and afternoon, all under the shadow of Michelangelo’s frescoes and the pressure of watching eyes—if only from the outside. Secrecy is everything in these discussions. The only public signal is the color of the smoke from the chimney. White smoke: a new pope. Black smoke: more waiting.

There’s a real sense of gravity to the process. Just standing in the same chapel where, hundreds of years ago, popes have come and gone, can make today’s events feel both timeless and urgent. Vatican onlookers know better than to guess how quickly consensus will form. Sure, the last two conclaves picked a pope in under 48 hours, but history is full of surprises. The marathon election of the late 13th century famously dragged on for years—though almost no one expects anything quite that dramatic this time around, thanks to modern rules designed to nudge the process along.

The faithful, meanwhile, continue to wait in St. Peter’s Square. Their eyes flicker between the Sistine Chapel’s chimney and the massive TV screens showing live coverage. The only certainty? A decision will come—after however many rounds of ballots it takes for two-thirds of the world’s Catholic leaders to unite behind a single successor. Until white smoke curls up, speculation over alliances, divisions, and possible frontrunners will remain the main topic of conversation both inside and outside Vatican walls. For now, all anyone can do is wait—as the *papal conclave* drama plays out yet again in the world’s smallest, but arguably most watched, state.