Black smoke seen on day 2 of conclave

VATICAN CITY - Black smoke billowed from the chimney of the Sistine Chapel in Vatican City at about 6:49 (Manila time), signaling that cardinal electors have failed to name a successor to Pope Benedict XVI on the second day of the conclave on Wednesday.

The church's faithful flocked to Saint Peter's Square on rainy Wednesday morning after passing security checks by Italian officers hoping to see white smoke rise to indicate the election of a new leader of the world's Catholics.

Vatican Radio reported that the sequestered cardinals involved in the conclave began their day with mass in the Pauline Chapel at 8:00 am (Rome time) before heading to the nearby frescoed Sistine Chapel to cast their ballots once again. (See Philstar's 24/7 live feed from the Vatican)

They would be casting votes in four rounds, with two in the morning and another two in the afternoon.

After the smoke poured out, the crowds began to dissipate though a few hangers-on appeared ready to wait out the afternoon balloting.

Unlike the confusion that reigned during the 2005 conclave, the smoke this time around has been clearly black — thanks to special smoke flares akin to those used in soccer matches or protests that were lit in the chapel ovens to make the burned ballots black. -With reports from AP, Camille Diola