This is the question on every Catholic’s mind: when will I see white smoke? When will we have a new pope?
I can’t tell you exactly—no one knows precisely when the ballots will be burned—but here are some good times to check the chimney:
PST | MST | CST | EST | CET (Rome time) |
2:30 AM | 3:30 AM | 4:30 AM | 5:30 AM | 10:30 AM |
4:00 AM | 5:00 AM | 6:00 AM | 7:00 AM | 12:00 PM (noon) |
9:30 AM | 10:30 AM | 11:30 PM | 12:30 PM | 5:30 PM |
11:00 AM | 12:00 PM | 1:00 PM | 2:00 PM | 7:00 PM |
Time in Rome –
The cardinals will cast two votes in the morning—which they will burn at noon—and two in the evening—which they will burn at 7:00 PM (Rome time). This means we will see smoke at noon and 7:00 PM.
If the cardinals do not vote twice in the morning—if their first vote is conclusive—we will see white smoke around 10:30 AM. Similarly, for the evening ballots, we could see white smoke closer to 5:30 PM.
Again, these are only estimates—it never hurts to check more often.
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