Papal Conclave: Cardinals to resume voting Wednesday morning in search of new pope

VATICAN CITY - (AP) -- Cardinals from around the world will resume their voting in the morning, after failing to agree on a new pope during the first day of their conclave today.

After their first vote today, black smoke poured from the Sistine Chapel chimney. If the smoke had been white, it would have signaled that a new pope had been chosen.

Thousands of people were gathered outside in the cold night rain, crowded into St. Peter's Square with their eyes on the narrow chimney on the Sistine Chapel roof.

On Wednesday, the Cardinals have scheduled votes at:

5:30am
7am
12pm
and 2pm.

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The cardinals had been meeting for the past week behind closed doors, engaging in discussions to try to determine who among them has what it takes to be pope, and what his priorities should be.

But the debate ended with questions still unanswered, and many cardinals are predicting a drawn-out election that will further expose the divisions within the church.

Meanwhile, Pope Benedict is said to be following the proceedings from home.

His resignation of Benedict last month threw the church into turmoil, and exposed divisions among cardinals wrestling with whether to choose a manager to clean up the Vatican's bureaucracy or a pastor who can inspire Catholics at a time when faith is waning.

Cardinal Angelo Scola (SKOH'-lah) of Italy is seen as the favorite among cardinals hoping to shape up the way the Vatican is governed.

Brazil's Odilo Scherer is backed by Vatican-based insiders who want to preserve the status quo.

Other names include Canada's Cardinal Marc Ouellet (wehl-EHT'), who heads the Vatican's powerful office for bishops, and Cardinal Timothy Dolan, the exuberant archbishop of New York.