Smoke just started pouring out of the Sistine Chapel chimney, but it's too difficult to tell whether it is white or black just yet.

MORE: It looks a lot whiter than the previous smoke signals....

MORE: The crowd at Vatican City is going wild, and the smoke still appears light.

MORE: Looks like a new pope has been chosen!

MORE: Chris Wallace of Fox News is saying he's not convinced, because no bells have sounded as the Vatican promised to signal a new pope.

MORE: EWTN is also holding back, noting the absence of bells.

MORE: EWTN: "It does appear we do have a new pope. Those are the bells of St. Peters, and they do appear to be ringing."

MORE: Images and sounds from St. Peter's Square show tens of thousands of joyful, cheering, thankful people. They still have not introduced the next leader of the church. EWTN analysts are speculating that with such a quick decision there is a good chance the choice was Cardinal Ratzinger.

MORE: St. Peter's Square is now completely filled from end to end, and it appears 100,000 or more have flooded into the square within the past twenty minutes, since the first puffs of white smoke began billowing.

MORE: Kathryn Lopez doubts its Ratzinger; Michael Novak suggests it is.

MORE: It's Ratzinger: Pope Benedict 16th.

MORE: The 265th pope will be one of the most conservative theologians in the church hierarchy, and 78 years old. The Conclave of Cardinals has sent a strong message to the world's 1.1 billion Catholics: Church teachings should not change or stray from the path set down by Pope John Paul II.

MORE: Andrew Sullivan's
response will probably be a common one from pro-reform Catholics in the coming days, weeks and months:

But those of us who are struggling against what our Church is becoming, and the repressive priorities it is embracing, can only contemplate a form of despair. The Grand Inquisitor, who has essentially run the Church for the last few years, is now the public face. John Paul II will soon be seen as a liberal. The hard right has now cemented its complete control of the Catholic church. And so ... to prayer. What else do we now have?

It will be interesting to see if the devout in areas of the world where the church is growing fastest - Africa, Asia, parts of Latin America - share the same unhappiness.