White smoke is pouring out of the Sistine Chapel chimney, signalling that a pope has been elected to lead the Catholic Church.

That means the winner secured at least 89 votes of the 133 cardinals participating in the conclave to elect a successor to Pope Francis. The crowd in St. Peter’s Square erupted in cheers. The name will be announced later, when a top cardinal utters the words “Habemus papam!” Latin for “We have a pope!” from the loggia of St. Peter’s Basilica. The cardinal then reads the winner’s birth name in Latin, and reveals the name he has chosen to be called.

The new pope is then expected to make his first public appearance and impart a blessing from the same loggia.

One cardinal’s hometown ‘mystery’

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Three friends in Cardinal Pietro Parolin’s hometown of Schiavon clinked their glasses in an Italian salute when the white smoke went up in St. Peter’s Square. “We hope it’s him,” said Mariano Vialetto, over an aperitivo in Caffè Centrale. “We have our fingers crossed.”

Morgan Zaetta was more sure: “It’s him, it’s him.”

Then the bells rang in the church, St. Margherita — only the sacristan says it wasn’t he who rang them and doesn’t know who did.

“It wasn’t me,” said Angelo Cisotto, adding no one was in the bell tower and they could not be rung by remote.

“It’s a mystery,” he said. Asked if it could be a sign: “We hope, we hope.’’

Trump saw the smoke

President Donald Trump was asked about the white smoke signaling that a new pope had been chosen. He offered little immediate reaction.

“I saw the smoke but I haven’t seen the pope,” Trump told reporters on his way out of a White House event with military mothers.

A last quiet moment before the excitement

A few minutes before the white smoke, a small seagull chick appeared near the chimney of the Sistine Chapel. Alongside the chick were two larger seagulls, almost as if they were a family. Just as the mother was feeding the chick, the chimney began to smoke.

Older cardinals who didn’t participate in the conclave rush out to the square

These cardinals lined up as military bands played the Italian and Holy See national anthems.

Spotted in the crowd were American Cardinals Sean O’Malley and Donald Wuerl, both of whom are over 80 and didn’t vote.

Swiss Guards have taken position in front of front of St. Peter’s Basilica

A marching brass band in blue uniforms led a contingent of Swiss guards through the crowd to a central spot below the balcony, generating another huge roar from the crowd.