With great anticipation, Americans in Rome await white smoke - Catholic Review

With great anticipation, Americans in Rome await white smoke

Chuck and Annette Walker, from the Archdiocese of Los Angeles, await smoke near St. Peter's Square on the morning of

With great anticipation, Americans in Rome await white smoke - Catholic Review

VATICAN CITY (OSV News) — Anticipation and excitement were in the air in St. Peter’s Square and the surrounding environs as thousands of faithful and curiosity seekers alike gazed for hours at a small chimney atop the Sistine Chapel. They were waiting, appropriately, for a sign of smoke — white, which would announce the start of a new era for the Catholic Church, or black, which would announce simply: not yet. Inside the chapel, the College of C…

A huge crowd gathered in the square in Rome to watch the chimney, which is sending an important message to the world.