Vatican
City, 11 March 2013
(VIS) – Following is a brief chronology of Conclaves in recent
centuries along with interesting facts that occurred during each.
In
the entire history of the Church, the longest papal election—taking
place in Viterbo, Italy in 1268 and ending with the election of
Gregory X—lasted for two years. It was as a result of this instance
that the modern incarnation of the papal Conclave was instituted.
In
modern history, the longest Conclave was that of 1740, which ended
with the election of Benedict XIV. It lasted from 18 February until
17 August, 181 days. Fifty-one cardinals participated in the final
ballot, four cardinals having died during the proceedings.
In
1758, the Conclave that elected Clement XIII lasted from 15 May until
6 July, 53 days. Forty-five cardinals participated, but one was
absent at the final ballot, having left the Conclave because of
illness.
In
1769, Clement XIV was elected after 94 days, from 15 February until
19 May. Forty-six cardinals participated in the vote.
Beginning
in 1774, the Conclave that elected Pius VI lasted 133 days, from 5
October of that year until 15 February 1775. Forty-six cardinals
entered in the Conclave but two of them died during the proceedings.
The
Conclave that elected Pius VII took place in Venice, since
Rome was under occupation by Napoleon’s troops. It lasted from 1
December 1799 until 14 March 1800, 105 days. It was the last Conclave
held outside of Rome and 34 cardinals participated.
In
1823, Leo XII was elected after 27 days, 2 September until 28
September, and 49 cardinals participated.
In
1829, the Conclave that elected Pius VIII lasted 36 days, 24 February
until 31 March, and 50 cardinals participated.
At
the Conclave that began in 1831, the last cardinal not to be bishop
was elected Pope, Gregory XVI. The Conclave that elected him lasted
51 days, from 14 December 1830 until 2 February of the following year
and 45 cardinals participated.
“Short”
Conclaves began to take place from 1846, with the election of Blessed
Pius IX. Fifty cardinals elected him Pope in a conclave lasting three
days, from 14 to 16 June of that year.
After
the longest papal reign, which lasted more than thirty years, the
following Conclave also lasted three days, from 18 to 20 February in
1878. Sixty-one cardinals participated in the vote to elect Leo XIII.
It's interesting to note that, as his reign was the third longest in
papal history, lasting over 25 years, only four of the cardinals that
elected him participated in another Conclave. Another interesting
fact from this Conclave is that the first American to be created
cardinal, Cardinal John McCloskey, archbishop of New York, would have
been the first non-European to take part in a papal election but he
arrived too late to participate. That honour was to go to Cardinal
James Gibbons, archbishop of Baltimore, Maryland at the next
Conclave.
In
1903 St. Pius X was elected Pope by 64 cardinals in a Conclave that
lasted five days, from 31 July until 4 August, and had 7 ballots. It
was the last time that the “Jus Exclusivae” (“right of
exclusion” or right to veto a candidate for the papacy claimed by
the Catholic monarchs of Europe) was exercised. The Italian Cardinal
Mariano Rampolla was vetoed by Franz Joseph I of Austria-Hungary.
After his election, St. Pius X abolished the right of heads of state
to exercise a veto.
In
1914, the Conclave that elected Benedict XV lasted four days, from 31
August until 3 September. The 57 participating cardinals had 10
ballots. Three North American Cardinals were locked out of the
Sistine Chapel, having arrived too late to enter but it was the first
time that a Latin American cardinal participated, Cardinal Joaquim
Arcoverde de Albuquerque Cavalcanti, archbishop of Sao Sebastiao do
Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
In
1922, during the Conclave that elected Pius XI, 53 cardinals held 7
ballots over five days, from 2 to 6 February. Two American and one
Canadian cardinal were again left out of the Conclave for having
arrived too late. After his election, Pius XI established a period of
15 days from the beginning of the Sede Vacante to entering into
Conclave in order to allow cardinals enough time to travel to Rome.
In
the 1939 Conclave that elected Pius XII, the first patriarch of an
Eastern rite participated in the election: His Beatitude Mar Ignatius
Gabriel I Tappouni, patriarch of Antioch and all the East of the
Syrians. The Conclave, the shortest of the twentieth century, lasted
just two days, from 1 to 2 March. The 62 cardinals held 3 ballots.
In
the Conclave of 1958 that elected Blessed John XXIII, cardinals from
China, India, and Africa participated for the first time. The
Conclave lasted four days, from 25 to 28 October and the 51 cardinals
held 11 ballots.
In
1963, the Conclave lasted three days, from 19 to 21 June. The 80
cardinals elected Paul VI after 11 ballots.
In
1978, the Conclave that elected John Paul I was the first in which
cardinals over the age of 80 did not participate. The Conclave lasted
two days, 25 to 26 August. The 111 Cardinal electors held four
ballots.
In
the second Conclave celebrated that year—the reign of John Paul I
lasting just 33 days, resulting in the most recent “Year of Three
Popes”—Blessed John Paul II was elected by the same 111 Cardinal
electors after eight ballots held over three days 14 to 16 October.
In
2005, Benedict XVI was elected Pope in the fourth ballot of the
Conclave that lasted two days, from 18 to 19 April. The largest
number of Cardinal electors ever took part in that election: 115.
The
Conclave that begins tomorrow morning, 12 March 2013, will be the
first one since 1829 to be held during Lent. One hundred fifteen
Cardinal electors will participate.
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