The next pope will be the Catholic Church's 267th leader.
VATICAN CITY -- The conclave to elect the 267th pope and successor to Pope Francis is now underway.
In total, 133 cardinals will be voting during this conclave, the most electors ever, with 108 of them being appointed by Pope Francis. Ten are from the United States.
All of the cardinals took an oath of secrecy before beginning daily votes, two times in the morning and two times in the evening. They will continue voting until two-thirds of the cardinals have agreed on a new pope.
The ballots are burned after each voting session, and the smoke will emanate from the chimney that was built on top of the Sistine Chapel. Black smoke means a majority has not been reached and the voting will continue. White smoke means a new holy leader of the Roman Catholic Church has been confirmed.
The last three popes were chosen within days.
(The Associated Press and ABC News contributed to this report.)
Black smoke emerged from the chimney of the Sistine Chapel during the conclave.
That meant that no new pope had been elected by the cardinals.
It signified the end of the second round of voting -- and three ballots -- with no consensus.
The cardinals planned to take a break for lunch before beginning their next round of voting.
Eyewitness News Anchor Joe Torres reports from the Vatican.
Cardinals will return to the Sistine Chapel on Thursday after the first voting session of the conclave on Wednesday failed to find consensus on who will become the next pope.
The electors are expected to participate in four rounds of voting through the course of the day.
The cardinals will gather for a mass in the Pauline Chapel at around 8 a.m. local time (2 a.m. ET), after which they will return to the Sistine Chapel at around 9:15 a.m. (3:15 a.m. ET) to vote.
Two ballot burnings are planned. One is expected at the end of the morning around 12 p.m. (6 a.m. ET) and the second in the evening at around 7 p.m. (1 p.m. ET)
-ABC News' Phoebe Natanson, Clark Bentson and Joe Simonetti
The 133 cardinals line up to take an oath to ensure the secrecy of the conclave to elect the next leader of the Roman Catholic Church. Each cardinal will place their hand on the Book of the Gospels to take the oath.
The oath promises to keep the secrecy of anything that relates to the election of the new pope.
Cardinals make their way from the Pauline Chapel to the Sistine Chapel to begin the conclave to elect the next pope.
Once the procession ends, the 133 cardinals will take an oath as a group to ensure the secrecy of the conclave.
The official start of the papal conclave to elect the next leader of the Catholic Church is about to begin.
The 133 voting cardinals are expected to take their oaths at the Sistine Chapel at about 4:30 p.m. following a procession from the Pauline Chapel in reverse seniority.
The master of ceremony will then oversee the official start of the conclave at 5 p.m.
Cardinal Timothy Dolan, the archbishop of New York, said in a post to X on Wednesday that he and the other North American cardinals will bring the "intentions" of regional Catholics to the conclave.
"Please keep us in your prayers," Dolan wrote.
