The Next Edition
  • Home
  • About Us
  • News
  • Featured
  • Investigations
  • Foreign
  • Special Reports
  • Entertainment
  • Interviews
  • Advert Rate
No Result
View All Result
The Next Edition
No Result
View All Result
  • Home
  • About Us
  • News
  • Featured
  • Investigations
  • Foreign
  • Special Reports
  • Entertainment
  • Interviews
  • Advert Rate
Home Breaking News

Breaking: New Pope Elected As White Smoke Billows From Sistine Chapel

The Next Edition by The Next Edition
May 8, 2025
in Breaking News
Breaking: New Pope Elected As White Smoke Billows From Sistine Chapel
0
SHARES
9
VIEWS
Share on FacebookShare on TwitterShare on Whatsapp

White smoke billowed from the chimney of the Sistine Chapel on Thursday, signalling that cardinals locked inside have elected a new leader for the world’s 1.4 billion Catholics.

Thousands of pilgrims and curious onlookers in St Peter’s Square cheered and applauded as the smoke appeared and bells began to ring, indicating the 2,000-year-old institution has its 267th pope.

You might also like

Just In: Business Mogul Aminu Dantata Dies At 94

BREAKING: Tinubu Confers National Honours on Kudirat Abiola, Humphrey Nwosu, Other Nigerians

JUST IN: Markets, Schools, Offices Shut In Imo Over Sit-At-Home Order

All eyes now turn to the balcony of St Peter’s Basilica, to see who has been elected to succeed Pope Francis, an Argentine reformer who died last month after 12 years as leader of the worldwide Church.

The new pontiff will be introduced in Latin with his chosen papal name and address the world for the first time.

He faces a momentous task: as well as asserting his moral voice on a conflict-torn global stage, he faces burning Church issues from the continued fall-out from the sexual abuse scandal to the Vatican’s troubled balance sheets.

Some 133 “Princes of the Church” from five continents — the largest conclave ever — began voting on Wednesday afternoon.

Sworn to secrecy, on pain of excommunication, their only means of communicating their progress to the outside world was by sending up smoke through the chimney of the Sistine Chapel.

On Wednesday evening and then again on Thursday lunchtime, the smoke was black, emitting disappointed sighs from the tens of thousands watching.

But on Thursday afternoon just after 6pm (1600 GMT) the smoke emitted was white, confirming that the Catholic Church has a new spiritual leader.

By tradition, he now enters the Room of Tears — where freshly-elected popes give free rein to their emotions — to don a papal cassock for the first time, before returning to the Sistine Chapel so the cardinals can pledge their obedience.

He will then appear on the balcony along with a senior cardinal, who will announce to the waiting crowds “Habemus Papem” (“We have a pope”).

The pope will then give a short speech and impart his first “Urbi et Orbi” (“To the City and the World”) blessing.

– Pastor or diplomat –

The election has come at a time of great geopolitical uncertainty, which was seen as a key voting issue, along with the rifts within the Church.

Francis was a compassionate reformer who prioritised migrants and the environment, but he angered traditionalists who wanted a defender of doctrine rather than a headline-maker.

Some 80 percent of the cardinal electors were appointed by Francis. Hailing from 70 countries around the world, it was the most international conclave ever.

That was no guarantee, however, that the cardinals would pick someone in his vein.

The question was whether to choose a pastor or diplomat, a liberal or conservative, someone versed in the Curia — the Church’s governing body — or a relative outsider from areas of the world where Catholic faith is thriving.

Before the cardinals were locked into the Sistine Chapel Wednesday, their dean Giovanni Battista Re urged them to choose someone able to protect the Church’s unity.

The next pope must also be able to lead “at this difficult and complex turning point in history”, amid raging conflicts around the world and the rise of ultra-nationalist parties.

The Church has also had difficulty in adapting to the modern world, with declining priest numbers and increasingly empty pews in the West.

The papal inauguration usually takes place less than a week after the election with a mass celebrated before political and religious leaders from around the world.

The new pope will likely do a tour of St Peter’s Square in his popemobile for the first time, before delivering a homily outlining his priorities.

 

 

 

The Next Edition

The Next Edition

Recommended For You

Just In: Business Mogul Aminu Dantata Dies At 94

Just In: Business Mogul Aminu Dantata Dies At 94

  Businessman and philanthropist, Alhaji Aminu Alhassan Dantata is dead. He was 94. Deputy National Treasurer of the Nigerian Association of Chambers of Commerce, Industry, Mines and Agriculture...

BREAKING: Tinubu Writes Senate On Plan To Deploy Troops To Niger Republic

BREAKING: Tinubu Confers National Honours on Kudirat Abiola, Humphrey Nwosu, Other Nigerians

President Bola Tinubu has bestowed posthumous national honours on late Kudirat Abiola, wife of the presumed winner of the presidential election in 1993, chief MKO Abiola. Tinubu also...

Police Burst Kidnappers Den In Imo, Arrests Five Suspects

JUST IN: Markets, Schools, Offices Shut In Imo Over Sit-At-Home Order

Markets, schools and offices shut down on Friday based on the sit-at-home order by a separatist group, the Movement for the Actualisation of Sovereign State of Biafra (MASSOB)...

COVID-19: Visit Our Offices Only On Appointment – JAMB Tells Candidates

Breaking: JAMB Begins Rescheduling Of Exam For 379,997 Affected Candidates

The 379,997 candidates affected by the error of the Joint Admission and Matriculation Board (JAMB) have been rescheduled for another Unified Tertiary and Matriculation Examination. The rescheduling began...

Next Post
Alt="President Bola Ahmed Tinubu"

President Tinubu Bags Chieftaincy Title In Anambra




Related News

We'll Give Priority To Human Rights Issues - Gbajabiamila

Reps To Ensure Implementation Of Agreement With Electricity Workers – Gbajabiamila

Buhari should look into APC’s crisis –Sen. Marafa

Uzodinma Appoints 30 New Aides

Uzodinma Appoints 30 New Aides




The Next Edition

Office Address

3B, Agboola Aina street, Off Toyin Street,
Ikeja, Lagos.

Quick Contact Details

Phone:
08033018430
Whatsapp:
08051679910

Email:
[email protected]
[email protected]

Categories

  • Aviation
  • Beauty
  • Breaking News
  • Business
  • Columnists
  • Editorial
  • Entertainment
  • Fashion
  • Featured
  • Football
  • Foreign
  • Headline News
  • Home & Garden
  • Interviews
  • Investigations
  • North Central
  • North East
  • North West
  • Opinion
  • Parenting
  • Politics
  • Relationships
  • South East
  • South West
  • South-South
  • Special Reports
  • Sports
  • Top News
  • Vox Pops

© Next Edition Business Development Limited

  • About Us
  • Advert Rate
  • Contact Us
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms of Use
No Result
View All Result
  • Home
  • About Us
  • News
  • Featured
  • Investigations
  • Foreign
  • Special Reports
  • Entertainment
  • Interviews
  • Advert Rate

© Next Edition Business Development Limited