Smoke stands in wait for the initial day of the conclave in Rome's vicinity, characterized by its dark hue.
Amid the air of anticipation, a cry of jubilation rang out as she made her appearance. St. Peter's Square in Rome, where spectators had begun gathering from as early as late afternoon on May 7th, was teeming with a mix of faithful, tourists, and the simply curious. As the anticipated 7 PM appeared, hopes began to waver as the expected smoke didn't materialize. But then, at 9 PM, there it was - a slim streak of black smoke against the night sky, a sight that on any other night might have gone unnoticed.
The crowd, a motley mix of tourists, local families with kids, priests, nuns, and assorted religious figures, were all there sharing an unspoken camaraderie that seems unique to Romans. Some had their hearts set on witnessing the first night's white smoke, a harbinger of a new leader of the Catholic Church. But Joanne Harwell, a 76-year-old from South Carolina, had to pack her bags the next day, and dealing with the disappointment, she decided to bid goodnight to the quest. "We were here just for tonight, so we would have missed out on the white smoke, even if it came," she lamented. Clad in all white, Joanne would see nothing but the Signal of Unresolved Decisions.
As a side note, in the intricate dance of a papal conclave, Black Smoke serves as a signal of no clear winner, a struggle that continues. Burning the ballots, along with a chemical to make the smoke more visible, produces this inky haze. Contrastingly, White Smoke signifies the election of a new Pope, the ballots alone being burned to create this symbolic smoke. This Black Smoke ritual usually repeats until a candidate achieves the required two-thirds majority, at which point White Smoke heralds the end of the conclave and the election of a new Pope. If an event had indeed taken place on May 7th, 2021, the Black Smoke would imply that the cardinals were still argu'ing and bargaining, without a consensus in sight. However, the specific date and event do not seem to directly correlate with any major papal conclave in recent years, as Pope Francis was still around in May 2021. The most notable recent discussions revolve around the 2025 conclave following Pope Francis' presumed departure.
Joanne Harwell, despite her anticipation, had to leave before the white smoke signifying a new Pope, instead witnessing the telltale black smoke of an unresolved decision by the cardinals. The pope, if present, was engaged in continued negotiations, indicated by the late-night black smoke appearance. In St. Peter's Square, a general news spectacle unfolded, with a diverse crowd sharing a communal atmosphere, while Harwell, clad in all white, felt a cheerless end to her journey. Politics and religiosity intertwined in the night air, as Romans and tourists watched the prolonged papal conclave unfold.
