Watch live as cardinals elect a new pope with white smoke rising from the Sistine Chapel on Thursday evening (8 May).
Millions now await the announcement of the new head of the Catholic Church after the decision made on Thursday by 133 cardinals who gathered in the Sistine Chapel for the historic vote.
They came together at 4.30 pm local time on Wednesday in the 15th-century chapel for the first ballot, which was inconclusive, but reconvened for three more sessions of voting before reaching a two-thirds majority, which was signalled when the white smoke appeared about 6pm local time on Thursday.
The signal of the historic decision prompted cheers from the crowd of faithful in St Peter’s Square, many of whom travelled internationally to come together and await the decision.
