Vatican, March 12: Black smoke has poured from the Sistine Chapel chimney, signaling that cardinals have failed to elect a pope on their first try on Tuesday, deeply divided over the problems of the church and who best among them could fix them following the stunning resignation of Pope Benedict XVI.

The Vatican made clear it didn’t expect a winner on the first ballot.

The cardinals now return to the Vatican’s Santa Marta hotel for the night. They return to the Apostolic Palace for Mass on Wednesday morning and a new round of voting.

Earlier in the day, cardinals from around the globe locked themselves inside the Sistine Chapel, surrounded by Michelangelo’s imposing frescos imagining the beginning and the end of the world.

The 115 scarlet-robed men entered their conclave with a final appeal for unity to heal the divisions that have been exposed by Pope Benedict XVI’s shocking resignation and revelations of corruption in the Vatican bureaucracy.

Led by prelates holding a crucifix and candles, the cardinals chanted the Litany of Saints, the hypnotic Gregorian chant imploring the intercession of the saints, as they filed into the chapel and took their oath of secrecy.

With a dramatic closing of the thick double doors and the exhortation "Extra omnes" or "all out," the ritual-filled conclave began beneath Michelangelo’s frescoed "Creation" and before his "Last Judgment" potent images for the task at hand.

Benedict XVI’s resignation has thrown the church into turmoil and exposed deep divisions among cardinals grappling with the apparently conflicting needs for a manager to clean up the Vatican’s dysfunctional bureaucracy and a pastor who can inspire Catholics at a time of waning faith and growing secularism.

The buzz swirled around Cardinal Angelo Scola, an Italian seen as favored by cardinals hoping to shake up the powerful Vatican bureaucracy, and Brazilian Cardinal Odilo Scherer, a favourite of Vatican-based insiders intent on preserving the status quo. Other names included Canadian Cardinal Marc Ouellet, who heads the Vatican’s powerful office for bishops, and U.S. Cardinal Timothy Dolan, the exuberant archbishop of New York.

In a final appeal before the conclave began, the dean of the College of Cardinals, retired Cardinal Angelo Sodano, appealed for unity within the church, urging the cardinal electors to put their differences aside for the good of the church.

"Each of us is therefore called to cooperate with the Successor of Peter, the visible foundation of such an ecclesial unity," Sodano said. He said the job of pope is to be merciful, charitable and "tirelessly promote justice and peace."

Sitting in the front row was Benedict’s longtime aide, Archbishop Georg Gaenswein, who reported that Benedict was watching the proceedings from the papal residence in Castel Gandolfo, according to a Vatican spokesman the Rev. Thomas Rosica.

For over a week, the cardinals have met behind closed doors to try to figure out who among them has the stuff to be pope and what his priorities should be. But they ended the debate on Monday with questions still unanswered, and many cardinals predicting a drawn-out election that will further expose the church’s divisions. The conclave proceeds in silence, with no debate.

During the discussions, Vatican-based cardinals defended their administration against complaints that they have been indifferent to the needs of cardinals in the field. At one point on Monday, the Brazilian head of one Vatican office reportedly drew applause for challenging the Vatican No. 2, who has been blamed for most of the bureaucracy’s administrative failings.

"Let us pray for the cardinals who are to elect the Roman pontiff," read one of the prayers during the Mass. "May the Lord fill them with his Holy Spirit with understanding and good counsel, wisdom and discernment."

A few hundred people braved thunderstorms and pouring rain to watch the Mass on giant TV screens in St. Peter’s Square. A handful knelt in prayer, eyes clenched and hands clasped. They stayed on through the rain, watching the narrow chimney atop the chapel for the first puffs of smoke which signal whether a pope has been elected or not.

In his final radio address before being sequestered, Cardinal Dolan on Tuesday said a certain calm had taken hold over him, as if "this gentle Roman rain is a sign of the grace of the Holy Spirit coming upon us."

Some of the faithful outside alluded to the huge challenge facing the next pontiff.

"It’s a moment of crisis for the church, so we have to show support of the new pope," said Veronica Herrera, a real estate agent from Mexico who traveled to Rome for the conclave with her husband and daughter.

Yet the mood was not entirely somber.

A group of women who say they are priests launched pink smoke from a balcony overlooking the square to demand female ordination a play on the famous smoke signals that will tell the world whether a pope has been elected. Two topless activists from Femen were dragged away from the edge of St. Peter’s Square by police as she protested the Vatican’s opposition to gay marriage.

And in a bizarre twist, basketball star Dennis Rodman promised to be in St. Peter’s Square on Wednesday in a makeshift popemobile as he campaigns for Cardinal Peter Turkson of Ghana to become the church’s first black pope.

None of the cardinals will see it, since they will be sequestered inside the Vatican walls. They are allowed to travel only from the Vatican hotel through the gardens to the Sistine Chapel and back until they have elected a pope. No telephones, no newspapers, no television, no tweeting.

The cardinals began the process Tuesday afternoon by filing into the Sistine Chapel. After the doors closed, they heard a meditation by an elderly Maltese cardinal and were then expected to cast their first ballots.

Assuming they vote, the first puffs of smoke should emerge from the chapel chimney by 8 p.m. (12.30 a.m. IST, Wednesday) black for no pope, white if a pope has been chosen.

While few people expect a pontiff to be elected on the first ballot, the Vatican was ready — In the Room of Tears off the Sistine Chapel, three sizes of white cassocks hung from a clothes rack. Underneath, seven white shoe boxes were piled, presumably containing the various sizes of the red leather shoes that popes traditionally wear. The room gets its name from the weight of the job thrust upon the new pontiff.

The papal tailor Gammarelli delivered the clothes on Monday to ensure that the newly elected pope could change immediately into papal white as soon as he accepts the election. With the words "Habemus Papam" or "We have a pope" the pontiff then appears on the balcony of St. Peter’s Basilica to greet the crowd.

The conclave is taking place amid more upheaval and uncertainty than the church has seen in decades — There’s no front-runner, no indication how long voting will last and no sense that a single man has what it takes to be pope.

Going into the vote, cardinals offered wildly different assessments of what they’re looking for in the next pontiff and how close they are to a decision. It was evidence that Benedict XVI’s surprise resignation has continued to destabilize the church leadership and that his final appeal for unity may go unheeded, at least in the early rounds of voting.

Even the American cardinals couldn’t agree on whether to expect a short or long conclave.

Cardinal Dolan this week publicly expressed optimism that the election would be wrapped up quickly. And on the eve of the conclave, he wrote a letter to New York priests, saying — "My guess is that we’d have a new Successor of St. Peter by Thursday evening," according to Dolan’s spokesman, Joseph Zwilling.

That bullish stance stood in stark contrast with the view of Chicago Cardinal Francis George- His spokeswoman, Colleen Dolan, told The Associated Press that the cardinal suggested it could be a long affair. George raised the possibility that the cardinals may still be meeting by Saturday, when conclave rules require the cardinals to take a break and spend some time in prayer before resuming voting.

The faithful in St. Peter’s square were also weighing in on the papal stakes.

"I don’t think it’s going to be a European pope," said Michael Flueckiger, a 38-year-old caretaker and sacristan of a church in Flamatt, Switzerland. "In Europe sometimes I think we have given away the gift of faith. Many people have lost the faith. They have lost their expectation in God."

Vatican, March 11: Catholic cardinals had a final day of jockeying for position on Monday before shutting themselves into the Sistine Chapel to elect a new pope after Benedict XVI's shock resignation, with an Italian and a Brazilian who both head powerful archdioceses among the top contenders.

The cardinals held their last pre-conclave talks where they have been debating the challenges that the next pope will face and vetting possible candidates for the post.

Vatican insiders put Milan Archbishop Angelo Scola in the lead, but without the support of two-thirds of the 115 "cardinal electors" needed to become the new leader of the world's 1.2 billion Catholics.

Brazilian Odilo Scherer, the charismatic archbishop of Sao Paolo and Latin America's best hope, is also seen as in with a chance after the red-frocked cardinals begin the storied process, cloaked in secrecy, of choosing one of their peers to lead the Church.

The electors must take a solemn oath of secrecy or face excommunication - though no examples of such a fate appear in the record, and Vatican journalists have shown a wily knack for extracting insider information.

Vatican staff members who will work around the conclave from tomorrow were also due to take the same oath later today.

In churches across Rome yesterday, many of the hopefuls celebrated mass during which they prayed for the divine guidance that is traditionally sought in making their choice.

US Cardinal Sean O'Malley said in his homily that the Catholic world was "united in prayer" as the clock ticked down to the conclave starting tomorrow.

"Let us pray that the Holy Spirit enables the Church to choose a new pope who will confirm us in our faith and make more visible the love of the Good Shepherd," O'Malley told parishioners in Santa Maria della Vittoria church.

The cardinals - all 115 of whom were appointed by Benedict or his predecessor John Paul II  will again invoke God's guidance as they process solemnly into the Sistine Chapel, which will be swept for listening devices to keep would-be spies at bay.

Their task is to find a pope -the 266th strong enough to grapple with the challenges assailing the Catholic Church that proved too much for 85-year-old Benedict.

His resignation - the first for 700 years -has focused attention on the need to find a leader with the energy to shape the Church's approach to growing secularism in the West and the Islamic radicalism spreading to many parts of the globe.

Cardinals have expressed a desire for a more vigorous, pastoral figure to deal with the relentless scandals over sexual abuse by paedophile priests and cover-ups by superiors that have rocked the Catholic Church.

Vatican, February 27, 2013: Pope Benedict XVI toured St Peter's Square in his popemobile one last time on Wednesday at the start of an audience in front of tens of thousands of pilgrims on the eve of his historic resignation as leader of the world's 1.2 billion Catholics.

Pilgrims flocked to bid a final farewell to the frail 85-year-old, who abruptly cut short his pontificate eight years in by declaring he was too weak to keep up with the modern world.

"I have come in gratitude for everything he has done these past eight years," said Father Giulio, a 67-year-old priest from the Abruzzo region.

"Resigning is a powerful message for every Christian. He resigned without bitterness but instead in sweetness and serenity," he said.

One group of faithful held up a banner reading, "Benedict, we'll miss you!".

Another sign said, "The pope is the heart of this city."

This will be the pope's last major public outing.

There were more than 100,000 people in and around the famous Vatican plaza, where city authorities have installed metal detectors, deployed snipers on Vatican rooftops and set up field clinics.

The weekly audience, which is exceptionally being held in St Peter's Square because of the high numbers of pilgrims, is usually a mix of prayers and religious instruction from the pope.

The Vicar General of Rome, cardinal Agostino Vallini, said residents of the Italian capital would turn out in great numbers because they felt a special bond with the ageing pope.

"It it something our heart and our faith demands," Vallini told Vatican Radio ahead of the event.

"Rome likes the pope a lot and feels a special affection for him so it could not miss his last public act," he said.

Benedict will be the first pope to step down since the Middle Ages-a break with Catholic tradition that has worried conservatives but kindled the hopes of Catholics around the world who want a breath of new life in the Church.

Rome has been gripped by speculation over what prompted Benedict to resign and who the leading candidates might be to replace him, as cardinals from around the world fly in ahead of the conclave to elect his successor.

Rumours and counter-rumours in the Italian media suggest cut-throat behind-the-scenes lobbying, prompting the Vatican to condemn what it has called "unacceptable pressure" to influence the papal election.

Campaign groups have also lobbied the Vatican to exclude two cardinals accused of covering up child sex abuse from the upcoming election conclave.