On Wednesday afternoon, the conclave - the election of the 267th pope in the history of the Church - began in the Sistine Chapel. That evening, the first vote to elect the new Bishop of Rome took place.

Around 50,000 people gathered in St Peter's Square and all waited for the first smoke from the Sistine Chapel.

At 9 p.m. local time (10 p.m. in Lithuania), black smoke rose from the chimney on the Sistine Chapel, meaning that the election of the Pope had not taken place. If a pope had been elected, white smoke would have risen from the chimney.

The election of a new pope is now being carried out by 133 cardinals. Among the electors are four cardinals from Poland (Cardinal Stanisław Rylko, Cardinal Kazimierz Nycz, Cardinal Konrad Krajewski and Cardinal Grzegorz Ryś) and one from Lithuania (Cardinal Rolandas Makrickas).

The Pope will be elected if one candidate receives at least two-thirds of the votes of all electors, i.e. 89 out of 133 possible.

Further voting will take place on Thursday and, if still inconclusive, on the following days (possible smoke after the morning vote - at 10.30am and 12 noon and after the midday vote - at 5.30pm or 7pm).

The afternoon celebrations for the inauguration of the conclave were preceded by a morning Mass in St Peter's Basilica for the election of the Pope. ‘We are here to invoke the help of the Holy Spirit, to implore His light and power for the election of the Pope whom the Church and humanity so need, being at this difficult and complex corner of history,’ said Cardinal Re in his homily.