White smoke billowed out of the world’s most famous chimney Thursday as the college of cardinals elected a new pope.
The new pontiff will soon emerge, and his new papal name will be announced. The historic occasion holds the eyes of the world.
WHITE SMOKE!
A pope has been chosen! pic.twitter.com/Nn5wj6n1Su
— Townhall.com (@townhallcom) May 8, 2025
While progressives favored the late Pope Francis’s protégés, like Pietro Parolin of Italy (Francis’s right hand at the Vatican) and Luis Antonio Tagle of the Philippines, conservatives hoped for a more traditional pope, like Robert Sarah of Guinea.
While many tried to claim that Francis was a reformer and an empathetic pastor, the reality is that he prioritized leftist politics over biblical theology and doctrine, fractured the Church, scandalized even non-Catholics, and seriously offended Israeli Jews.
The conclave only began on Wednesday, making it a short conclave, with only two days of voting and deliberation from the cardinals, most of whom were appointed by the late Pope Francis.
Catholics and even many non-Catholics await the name of the new pope, as the white smoke is greeted by a cheering crowd in St. Peter’s Square.
“There was a deep sense that in Pope Benedict, they had an ally, particularly for the old Latin Mass,” stated university religion professor Sarah Riccardi-Swartz. “And with Pope Francis, that seemed to go away. That was a point of not just contention but real sorrow for a lot of traditionalists.”
The next pope inherits a church facing many crises, both internal and external, political and religious, including a dearth of vocations, the ongoing sex abuse scandal, doctrinal splits within the church, multiple global wars, and heavy persecution of Christians in numerous countries. Hopefully, he will be a holy and wise man capable of handling all of these serious challenges.
This is a developing story and will be updated when we learn the name of the new pope.
