Black smoke emerged from the Sistine Chapel's chimney on Thursday, indicating that the 133 cardinals within had not elected a new pope during their initial two ballots. The cardinals resumed the conclave, a secretive, age-old ritual for choosing the Catholic Church's leader, at 9:30 am local time, following an inconclusive vote on Wednesday night. Two more ballots were scheduled for Thursday afternoon. The emission of white smoke would signal the election of a new pope, otherwise, the next signal would follow the second vote around 7 pm.

Giovanni Battista Re, the dean of the college of cardinals, expressed hope for a new pope's election later that day, emphasizing the need to "strengthen faith in God" in a world seemingly "forgotten about God." He stressed the necessity for an "awakening."

An election on Thursday would constitute the quickest papal election in a century, surpassing the 2005 conclave where Joseph Ratzinger was chosen in under 36 hours. The selection of Francis's successor is challenging due to a diverse but divided college of cardinals, many of whom met for the first time in Rome for his funeral. Some cardinals align with Francis's progressive approach, while others seek to reverse his changes.

Pre-conclave frontrunners included Pietro Parolin, Luis Antonio Tagle, Péter Erdő, Robert Sarah, and Robert Prevost. Over 45,000 pilgrims and tourists congregated in St Peter’s Square, awaiting the outcome of the first day’s voting, while over 100,000 watched online. The anxious wait was punctuated by the sight of seagulls on the Sistine Chapel’s roof.