Here's how the conclave creates black and white smoke and why the Catholic Church began using them to signal whether a new pope has been elected.

Here's how the conclave creates black and white smoke and why the Catholic Church began using them to signal whether a new pope has been elected.

Tradition holds that black smoke indicates the cardinals have not yet agreed on a new leader, while white smoke signals that a new Pope has been elected. But what kind of smoke is it exactly?

Historically, the white smoke was created by burning the ballots together with dry straw. The black smoke was made from the ballots, wet straw, and with the addition of pitch to darken the color.

The smoke’s color is dictated by the particle color, which means white and black colored smoke result from waste products other than carbon dioxide, which is colorless.

What does the white and black smoke mean during the conclave? There are multiple voting rounds during a papal conclave. A pope is elected when a candidate receives a two-thirds majority of the votes.

Black smoke rose from the Sistine Chapel's chimney on Wednesday, signaling that the College of Cardinals had not elected a pope.

The 2025 Conclave begins today to elect Pope Francis’s successor. Here’s what time to watch for black or white smoke, how the process works, and where to stream it live.

Here's how the conclave creates black and white smoke and why the Catholic Church began using them to signal whether a new pope has been elected.