In a signal of continuity, Pope Francis’s successor didn’t wear the papal red velvet loafers to his inaugural Mass before cardinals Friday at the Sistine Chapel.

Cardinals are meeting in a secret, sacred conclave for a second day as they seek a new pontiff to follow Pope Francis.

At 3 p.m., black smoke rose above the Sistine Chapel in Rome, signaling that the first vote did not produce a new pope.

A change in popes is a complicated process.

With a Vatican official calling out “extra omnes” and the door to the Sistine Chapel shutting, the conclave to elect Pope Francis’ successor has officially begun.

One hundred and thirty-three cardinals are sequestering themselves behind the Vatican’s medieval walls for the start of a conclave to elect a successor to Pope Francis.

Black smoke has poured out of the Sistine Chapel chimney, indicating no pope was elected on the first ballot of the conclave to choose a new leader of the Catholic Church.

All Vatican personnel involved in supporting the upcoming papal conclave must take an oath of secrecy — under penalty of automatic excommunication.

Vatican workers have installed the simple stove in the Sistine Chapel where ballots will be burned during the upcoming conclave to elect a new pope.

Growing numbers of people are making bets on next week’s conclave to elect the next pope.

Preparations for the conclave to find a new pope accelerated Friday with the installation of the chimney out of the Sistine Chapel that will signal the election of a successor to Pope Francis.

Cardinals have decided the conclave to elect a successor to Pope Francis will begin May 7.

The Vatican is closing the Sistine Chapel to the public as part of preparations for the conclave to elect the next pope after the death of Francis.

The death of a pope triggers a centuries-old ritual to elect a new one.

Pope Francis has baptized 16 babies in the Sistine Chapel to resume a decades-old Vatican tradition.

In announcement sure to be welcomed by travelers worldwide, the EU’s executive branch has proposed easing restrictions on visiting the 27-nation bloc as vaccination campaigns keep gathering speed.

The first visitors of the day enter the Vatican Museums, at the Vatican, Monday, Feb. 1, 2021. The Vatican Museums reopened Monday to visitors after 88 days of shutdown following COVID-19 containment measures. While many European countries remain in hard lockdowns amid surging COVID-19 infections and variants, five more Italian regions graduated to the coveted “yellow” category of risk starting Monday. AdIn Rome, Monday's “yellow" designation meant that the Vatican Museums welcomed visitors for the first time in 88 days — its longest closure ever. In Rome, where the “yellow" designation and reopenings coincided with a hint of a spring day, residents were out taking full advantage.

Visitors leaving the reopened Van Gogh Museum were offered a free sunflower in Amsterdam, Netherlands, Monday, June 1, 2020. The Dutch government took a major step to relax the coronavirus lockdown, with bars, restaurants, cinemas and museums reopening under strict conditions. Welcome back," said Rijksmuseum General Director Taco Dibbits as the first visitors filed into the vast museum in central AmsterdamAt the adjacent Van Gogh Museum the welcome came with what else? Today is a day to celebrate, a day of great joy, said director Barbara Jatta, as her Vatican Museums reopened on Monday. During peak summer months, the Vatican Museums routinely would have an hours-long line of tourists waiting to enter since there was no advance reservation system to schedule visit times.