Papal conclave ballots have been burned to maintain secrecy for centuries. Ballot smoke has been used to announce a decision ...

The black and white smoke that emerges from the Sistine Chapel during a papal conclave is part of a longstanding tradition — ...

Here's how the conclave creates black and white smoke and why the Catholic Church began using them to signal whether a new pope has been elected.

At the end of each voting round, black smoke means a new pope has not yet to be selected, while white smoke indicates a new ...