When should I expect white smoke?

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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Written by
Alex Renn
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Written by Alex Renn