[StBernard] CONCLAVE: NOTES FROM RECENT CENTURIES

[Westley Annis]

CONCLAVE: NOTES FROM RECENT CENTURIES 

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 over 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 XVI. 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 Valencia, Spain, 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.