Cardinals failed again Thursday morning to find a successor to Pope Francis, sending black smoke billowing up through the Sistine Chapel chimney after two more inconclusive rounds of conclave voting.
But despite the wait, Father Sean Connolly of the Archdiocese of New York told Newsmax on Thursday that being in St. Peter's Square gave him "a sense of belonging."
"It was an amazing experience for me. And it really felt like the whole church, people from all across the world, were being embraced by the arms of our spiritual mother, the church — which is what the colonnade in front of the basilica represents. So, we all ran into the square to see if we were going to get the good news of a new Pope. But we have to wait some more," Connolly said on "Wake Up America."
Connolly, who leads the congregation at St. Margaret's Parish in Riverdale the Bronx, said it was "such a unique experience" to be among Catholics from all over the world.
"What stands out for me was the sense of belonging," he said. "Like we belong to something that unites us across whatever nation, race, language we speak. You know, we're all professing what we believe is the universal faith of Christianity. So just to be there together as like one spiritual family awaiting the news of a new spiritual father, it was incredibly uplifting, something I'll never forget."
With no one securing the necessary two-thirds majority, or 89 votes, the 133 cardinals will return to the Vatican residences Thursday 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 Thursday.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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