Black smoke billowed from the chimney of the Sistine Chapel on Wednesday, signaling that the first vote to elect a new pope ended without a decision.

Cardinals from around the world had sequestered themselves earlier in the day, beginning the secretive process of choosing a successor to Pope Francis, who died last month. To be elected, a candidate must receive a two-thirds majority — at least 89 votes.

Scripps News spoke with Kevin Hughes, the Chairperson for Theology and Religious Studies at Villanova University, about what to expect as the conclave continues.

"I think the conventional wisdom is that the first vote is really a sense for the cardinals to get a sense for who's still on the table as it were, who's still being considered," Hughes said. "What's the lay of the land? Who's voting for whom? How many viable candidates do we have? So as I said, most people think that the first vote is usually just a way to test the waters. And I think that's what we've seen."

Speeches and comment from cardinals "already happened before they went into conclave and closed the doors. Where particular cardinals or bishops gave gave speeches and addressed the issues of the time and what we're looking for. That's already happened," Hughes said. "Really what we're looking at now is the Cardinals will retire to their places of residence there in the Casa San Marta. And I'm sure that will be conversations. But the formal conversation is done. There'll be discussions back and forth. But really the way the cardinals like to present in way they like to think about it is that this is a time for prayerful reflection."

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The next round of voting is expected on Thursday.

Watch the full interview with Hughes in the video above.