Black smoke rose above Sistine Chapel in the Vatican around noon, which means that a new pope was not elected even in the morning voting at the conclave.
The Cardinals voted for the first time on Tuesday and then twice this morning. After two rounds of voting, black smoke came out of the Vatican chimney, to the disappointment of the faithful gathered in the nearby St. Peter's Square.
Two more rounds of voting will take place this afternoon, and 115 cardinals will be imprisoned in the Vatican until they choose a successor to Benedict XVI.
When the cardinals discuss the name of the 266th pope, white smoke will come out of the chimney, and the bells from St. Peter's Basilica will also ring.
On February 28, Benedict XVI voluntarily left the pontificate.
Vatican spokesman Federico Lombardi said the conclave would last two to four days at most. The Pope needs the support of a two-thirds majority, so 1,2 cardinal votes are needed to elect a new head of the 77 billion faithful.
The Italian and German media are speculating that the new pope should be from Europe, and supposedly the most likely candidate is Milanese bishop Angelo Scola, who is close to the former Pope Ratzinger. Among the candidates from Europe who could be elected pope are Austrian Christopher Schonborn (68) and Hungarian Peter Erdo (60).
If the new pope is not from Europe, it will be the first head from another continent in the past 1.300 years. Many believe that it is time for the pope to be black and in that case, the main favorite is Peter Turskosn (64) from Ghana.
There is no complete protection against eavesdropping
The technical services of the Vatican have checked all possibilities of eavesdropping in the Sistine Chapel, where the election of the Pope is carried out, but also in the monastery complex of St. Martha, where the cardinals spend the night, reports the Religious Information Agency (VIA).
The floor, frames with pictures were checked, and the possibility of "bugs" being installed in the smartphone was also considered.
Eavesdropping expert Francesco Polimeni explained to the Italian media that there are many places in the Sistine Chapel where various devices can be installed.
In addition to the floor, he mentions chairs, but also benches where he kneels and prays, and can be eavesdropped on by infrared rays.
In Italy, it is very easy to get eavesdropping equipment.
"Technology has advanced a lot since 2005, when the last pope was elected. "Bugs" today are only 0,8 millimeters in size, they can hide even in a sugar cube," points out Polimeni.
However, according to him, the protection technique is also very advanced.
Experts believe that it is impossible to protect against "bugs", while it is possible to act effectively in connection with mobile phones, secret cameras, WLAN, Bluetooth, wireless telephony, if the frequencies are known.
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