But if there is a winner, the burning ballots are mixed with potassium chlorate, lactose and chloroform resin to produce the white smoke. Bells also are rung to further signal there is a new pope.

White smoke began pouring from the Sistine Chapel chimney on Thursday, signaling the College of Cardinals has chosen a successor to Pope Francis. And now the world waits to learn who he is.

Neither of the top two candidates casts a ballot in the runoff. What does white or black smoke mean during a papal transition? After each round of voting in the Sistine Chapel, the ballots are ...

While this process is held in secrecy, the rest of the world is informed on the group's daily decisions by white or black-colored smoke funneled from the top of the Sistine Chapel. Black smoke ...

In a tradition that scholars date to the 19th century, smoke released from a chimney will be colored white if the cardinals have made a decision, or black if they remain deadlocked. By Elisabetta ...

Black smoke rising from the Sistine Chapel chimney on Wednesday and again Thursday morning indicated that a new pope had not yet been chosen to replace Pope Francis. Using smoke to communicate to ...

Massive crowds cheered in Vatican City as white smoke poured out of the chimney. Catholics around the world are now waiting in suspense to see which cardinal was named pope. Since the conclave to ...

And once the election process for a new pope begins, gatherers will turn upward each day, waiting for black or white smoke to fill the sky. Francis died on Easter Monday, April 21. He was 88 years ...