Anticipation and excitement were in the air in St. Peter’s Square and the surrounding environs as thousands of faithful and curiosity seekers alike gazed for hours at a small chimney atop the Sistine Chapel. They were waiting, appropriately, for a sign of smoke — white, which would announce the start of a new era for the Catholic Church, or black, which would announce simply: not yet.
Inside the chapel, the College of Cardinals was tasked with voting for and electing, by two-thirds majority, the new Roman pontiff, bishop of Rome and 266th successor of St. Peter.
Black smoke — the sign of burned ballots — billowed from the small chimney late on the evening of May 7, the first day of the conclave, and again a little before noon in Rome on May 8, the second day.
Outside the chapel, seagulls perched on the rooftop as the Vatican Media “chimney cam” was broadcast on giant TV screens to people keeping vigil in the square and down the Via della Conciliazione.
Drones flew overhead, capturing sweeping views of the square, and security helicopters occasionally circled above. Heavy police presence directed pilgrims and tourists through long security lines to enter the square and also St. Peter’s Basilica and its Holy Door, both of which remained open May 8. At the times when smoke was anticipated, flags and thousands of smartphones were raised high, ready to be deployed at the first sight of “fumata.”
Many Americans were around, some of whom live locally, or attend school, and others who were visiting — either intentionally for the conclave or simply providentially.
Chuck Walker and his wife, Annette, from the Archdiocese of Los Angeles traveled to Rome specifically for the conclave.
“It is everything I expected it to be,” Annette Walker, 68, told OSV News while on smoke watch the morning of May 8. Walker, who is the president of City of Hope, Orange County, said that when she watched the 2013 election of Pope Francis on TV, she knew that someday she wanted to experience the event in person. And she had that feeling again when she found out Pope Francis had died April 21.
“I felt that I was called to be here, called to come,” she said, describing how she’d been in the square for the first vote Wednesday night with a group of Mormons who were just as excited to see the smoke — black — as they had been.
Chuck Walker said being in Rome for the conclave and seeing everybody present “gives you excitement about the church.”
“The Catholic Church is built on community, it’s built on breaking bread at a table,” he said. “This just demonstrates the Catholic Church is alive and strong. The press may say that it’s not because it doesn’t fit a narrative, but I think this demonstrates that the church is alive.”
The Torres family also traveled from Los Angeles explicitly to be present at the conclave. Dania Torres, 27, and her brother, sister and mother had breakfast May 8 at the local American hangout “Homebaked” before heading to St. Peter’s Square to watch for smoke.
Describing her family as “lifelong practicing Catholics,” Torres said they arrived May 7 for the first vote, which they witnessed from what she called “a packed St. Peter’s Square.”
“It was so lively,” she said, especially as the smoke billowed out of the chimney later than had been anticipated. “People started getting very antsy, people started clapping. I was impressed by the patience everyone had.”
Torres said she had been “very affected” by the death of Pope Francis, and felt an urge to come. “I just wanted to be a part of history,” she said. “I just feel like every papal election feels more pivotal in the history of the Catholic Church.”
Another American couple, now living in Venice, Italy, took the train down to Rome just for the conclave and to be in St. Peter’s Square Wednesday night.
And then there were the Americans who live in Rome or who just happened to be in town.
Sydney Compton, fundraising assistant for Jesuit Refugee Services, has lived in Rome for four years and is monitoring the Vatican News livestream at her office near the Vatican. She said she plans to go up to the terrace when there is white smoke. One seminarian with the North American College, who was also at Homebaked, said he and his classmates are ready to run to the square as soon as they see white smoke.
Shane and Sarah Stoner, from La Crosse, Wisc., were in Rome on a Jubilee tour, which ended May 8. They were skipping some of the events of the tour to be on smoke watch in the square. The couple had had their trip planned for a long time, Sarah Stoner said, and it was “bittersweet” that they were here after Pope Francis had died but in time for the election of a new pope.
Another pilgrimage group from the Diocese of Victoria, Texas, just happened to have scheduled its Jubilee trip for what turned out to be the most exciting time to be in the Eternal City.
“It just happened to be this week,” said Bishop Brendan J. Cahill, while visiting the square the evening before the conclave began. He told OSV News he is praying for the cardinals, for their discernment and for them as people.
“I imagine it’s a lot of stress, and I just pray for their health and their spiritual well-being as well,” he said.
And while the crowds in St. Peter’s Square and around the world continue to keep their eyes fixed on the Sistine chimney, his prayer on the outside of the chapel is one with that of the cardinals on the inside: “Come, Holy Spirit.”
