Gambiaj.com – (VATICAN) – Black smoke billowed from the chimney of the Sistine Chapel on Wednesday, meaning that cardinals did not elect a new pope on the first day of the conclave.

There is no clear frontrunner to take over leadership of the Roman Catholic Church, and cardinals will continue voting Thursday in a series of highly secretive ballots until they choose a successor to Pope Francis.

The 133 voting cardinals have returned to the Santa Marta residence inside the Vatican, where they will remain sequestered.

Meanwhile, the rest of the world’s 1.4 billion Catholics will have to continue waiting, with no hints about the future leader.

The cardinals have all taken an oath of secrecy and given up their electronic devices to prevent communication outside the conclave, leaks, or outside surveillance. The cardinals and Vatican staff will only get their phones and devices back once the conclave has ended.

Breaking the oath of secrecy results in automatic excommunication from the church.

Outside, tens of thousands gathered as the sun set at the Vatican’s St. Peter’s Square to watch the smoke signals coming from the burning ballots, even though it would have been highly unusual for a new pope to be selected after only one vote in the conclave.

“We tried to manifest it, but we kind of knew it wouldn’t be tonight,” said Carla Peat, 19, who traveled to Rome from Scotland with friends for the conclave. The friends joked that their local priest went to dinner instead of watching the chimney, but they will all be back at the square on Thursday.

The past two popes, Benedict XVI and Francis, were appointed on the second day of voting. Before them, John Paul II was appointed on the third day.

For the next three days, up to four rounds of voting will be held per day — two in the morning and two in the afternoon. If there is still no new pontiff by the fifth day, which falls on Sunday, the cardinals get a break from voting and instead are given time for prayer, quiet reflection, and informal discussion.

This conclave is poised to be a battle between those who want to continue with the late Pope Francis’ reforms and vision and those who want to make a course correction to a more traditional papacy.

Two disparate camps of cardinals are coalescing under the banners of “unity,” those seeking a more predictable papacy, or “diversity,” those who want someone who will follow more closely in Francis’ footsteps.

Meanwhile, the conclave is taking place against the backdrop of clerical sexual abuse scandals that have rocked the Catholic Church and which many inside the church believe need to be addressed by deep reforms.

There is no formal list of papal candidates, but some cardinals are being widely discussed as favorites – Filipino Cardinal Luis Antonio “Chito” Tagle, American Cardinal Robert Prevost, and Italian Cardinal Pietro Parolin, the former Vatican Secretary of State.

Much of the unpredictability is down to Francis’ shake-up of the College of Cardinals, with his appointments better reflecting the universal church and ripping up the old, unwritten rule book for choosing cardinals whereby a bishop of a certain diocese was automatically given a red hat.

But the changes made by the late pope also mean that many cardinals don’t know each other and even had to wear name badges during their meetings ahead of the conclave.

CNN