Cardinals return to the Sistine Chapel to vote on a new pope after the first ballot fails

Cardinals return to the Sistine Chapel on Thursday to resume voting for a new pope after the first conclave ballot failed to find a winner, sending billowing black smoke through the chapel chimney.

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Some of the 133 voting cardinals had said they expected a short conclave to replace Pope Francis. But it will likely take a few rounds of voting for one man to secure the two-thirds majority, or 89 ballots, necessary to become the 267th pope.

For much of the past century, the conclave has needed between three and 14 ballots to find a pope. John Paul I — the pope who reigned for 33 days in 1978 — was elected on the fourth ballot. His successor, John Paul II, needed eight. Francis was elected on the fifth in 2013.

The cardinals opened the secretive, centuries-old ritual Wednesday afternoon, participating in a rite more theatrical than even Hollywood could create.