But if there is a winner, the burning ballots are mixed with potassium chlorate, lactose and chloroform resin to produce the white smoke. Bells also are rung to further signal there is a new pope.

But if there is a winner, the burning ballots are mixed with potassium chlorate, lactose and chloroform resin to produce the white smoke. Bells also are rung to further signal there is a new pope.

A change in popes — through death or resignation — is a complicated process, with centuries-old rituals involving the transition in leadership for both the spiritual head of the global Catholic Church ...

But if there is a winner, the burning ballots are mixed with potassium chlorate, lactose and chloroform resin to produce the white smoke. Bells also are rung to further signal there is a new pope.

When Pope Francis arrived, he told the former speaker the tie bore a "color of hope ... friends asked if "white smoke" would emanate from the Capitol Dome. They facetiously suggested that ...

Neither of the top two candidates casts a ballot in the runoff. What does white or black smoke mean during a papal transition? After each round of voting in the Sistine Chapel, the ballots are ...

Neither of the top two candidates casts a ballot in the runoff. What does white or black smoke mean during a papal transition? After each round of voting in the Sistine Chapel, the ballots are ...