Watch live: New pope elected as white smoke rises from chimney

VATICAN CITY – White smoke rose from the Sistine Chapel chimney on the second day of the papal conclave, signaling the election of a new pope. 

The 133 cardinals in Vatican City will name the next pope within the next hour or so. 

RELATED: White smoke vs. black smoke: What it means for the pope

Here’s the latest from the conclave:

White smoke rises, new pope elected

12:08 p.m.ET: White smoke emerged from the Sistine Chapel chimney, meaning a new pope has been selected. The College of Cardinals is expected to name the new pope within 60 minutes of the white smoke rising. The new pope was selected during the third round of voting. 

The crowd in St. Peter’s Square erupted in cheers, priests made the sign of the cross and nuns wept as the crowd shouted “Viva il papa!” after the white smoke wafted into the late afternoon sky at 6:07 p.m. Waving flags from around the world, tens of thousands of people waited to learn who had won.

Afternoon session underway

10:50 a.m. ET: The cardinals have presumably returned from lunch and the afternoon voting session is underway. We expect up to two rounds of voting.

If a pope is elected on the first ballot, we could get white smoke at that point. If no pope is elected on the first ballot, we can expect to see white or black smoke after the second ballot later this afternoon.

What to expect after Cardinals’ lunch

8:30 a.m. ET: The cardinals are currently having lunch and will return to the Sistine Chapel around 9:45 a.m. ET for the afternoon voting session. Two more votes are possible on Thursday.

Cardinal Giovanni Battista Re, the dean of the College of Cardinals, expressed hope that a new pope would be elected within hours, according to reports in major Italian newspapers.

“I hope that when I return to Rome this evening, I’ll find the white smoke already rising,” he said, speaking from the city of Pompei on Thursday.

Re is 91 years old, which makes him too old to participate in the conclave of 133 cardinals who are electing the next pope and who all have to be under 80.

However, he has been prominent and delivered a mass on Wednesday before the cardinals began their conclave. As the mass ended, he was caught on a hot mic saying to Cardinal Pietro Parolin, viewed as a favorite for the papacy: “auguri doppi” (“double best wishes”).

Black smoke pours out of Sistine Chapel’s chimney

5:50 a.m. ET: Black smoke again poured out of the Sistine Chapel chimney, indicating that no pope was elected on second or third ballots of the conclave to choose a new leader of the Catholic Church.

The smoke billowed out at 11:50 a.m. local time after the morning voting session to elect a successor to Pope Francis. With no one securing the necessary two-thirds majority, or 89 votes, the 133 cardinals will return to the Vatican residences where they are being sequestered. They will have lunch and then return to the Sistine Chapel for the afternoon voting session.

Two more votes are possible on Thursday.

RELATED: White smoke vs. black smoke: What it means for the pope

How many votes are needed to select a pope?

The backstory:

The voting process works similar to how the U.S. federal government: a two-thirds majority is required to choose the next pope.

Each cardinal writes his choice on a piece of paper and drops off their twice-folded ballot in a large chalice one by one, according to the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops website.

Cardinals must be under 80 years old to cast a vote for a new pope.

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