1958 conclave
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The 1958 papal conclave occurred following the death of Pope Pius XII on 9 October 1958. The College of Cardinals met from 25 to 28 October and on the eleventh ballot elected Cardinal Angelo Giuseppe Roncalli,
Patriarch of Venice The Patriarch of Venice ( la, Patriarcha Venetiarum; it, Patriarca di Venezia) is the ordinary bishop of the Archdiocese of Venice. The bishop is one of the few patriarchs in the Latin Church of the Catholic Church (currently three other Latin ...
as the new pope. He accepted the election and took the name ''John XXIII''. He was the second
Patriarch of Venice The Patriarch of Venice ( la, Patriarcha Venetiarum; it, Patriarca di Venezia) is the ordinary bishop of the Archdiocese of Venice. The bishop is one of the few patriarchs in the Latin Church of the Catholic Church (currently three other Latin ...
to be elected Pontiff in the 20th century after Pope Pius X. Some 51 of the 53 cardinals participated as cardinal electors. The Communist governments of Hungary and Yugoslavia prevented the other two from traveling to Rome. In comparison with the conclave of 1922, when three cardinals failed to reach Rome in time for the start of the conclave that opened on the tenth day following the pope's death as required, or that of 1939, when three cardinals reached Rome on the morning the conclave opened under new rules 18 days after the pope's death, all the cardinals who made the trip reached Rome by 22 October with days to spare before the conclave began 16 days after Pius' death. For the first time the speed of travel matched the internationalization of the
College of Cardinals The College of Cardinals, or more formally the Sacred College of Cardinals, is the body of all cardinals of the Catholic Church. its current membership is , of whom are eligible to vote in a conclave to elect a new pope. Cardinals are app ...
, thanks to the advancement in air travel. As one newspaper put it, "the Archbishop of New York can reach Rome today faster than the Archbishop of Palermo did a generation ago". This conclave included cardinals from 21 countries, compared to 16 at the previous conclave, and 21 non-Europeans compared to seven. The 17 Italians out of 51 represented their lowest percentage since 1455.


Papabili

The cardinals anticipated a long conclave. There was no "dominating personality" as Pius had been in 1939 and the customary search for contrast suggested a "pastoral pope" to follow a "diplomatic pope". Another analysis set the likely age range between 55 and 70, with a preference for an Italian outside the curia. Several '' papabili'' were discussed. The conservative, supporting Vatican centralization of authority,
Giuseppe Siri Giuseppe Siri (20 May 1906 – 2 May 1989) was an Italian cardinal of the Catholic Church who served as Archbishop of Genoa from 1946 to 1987, and was elevated to the rank of cardinal in 1953. He was a protege of Pope Pius XII. He was considered ...
of Genoa was only 52 and his election would have meant another long papacy like that of Pius IX. The liberal, more disposed to granting independence to local authorities,
Giacomo Lercaro Giacomo Lercaro (28 October 1891 – 18 October 1976) was an Italian cardinal of the Roman Catholic Church who served as Archbishop of Ravenna from 1947 to 1952, and Archbishop of Bologna from 1952 to 1968. Pope Pius XII made him a cardinal ...
of Bologna was 67. Angelo Giuseppe Roncalli was now the Patriarch of Venice after more than 25 years in the diplomatic service of the
Holy See The Holy See ( lat, Sancta Sedes, ; it, Santa Sede ), also called the See of Rome, Petrine See or Apostolic See, is the jurisdiction of the Pope in his role as the bishop of Rome. It includes the apostolic episcopal see of the Diocese of R ...
in Bulgaria, Turkey and France. Approaching 77, his age marked him as a possible compromise choice in expectation of a short pontificate, along with his "reputation for being broad-minded and conciliatory". He also represented a combination of diplomatic and pastoral experience.
Gregorio Pietro Agagianian Gregorio Pietro XV Agagianian (; anglicized: ''Gregory Peter''; Western hy, Գրիգոր Պետրոս ԺԵ. Աղաճանեան, ''Krikor Bedros ŽĒ. Aghajanian''; born Ghazaros Aghajanian, 15 September 1895 – 16 May 1971) was an Armen ...
, the Catholic Armenian Patriarch of Cilicia, had spent much of his adult life in Rome. He was relatively young at 63 and highly respected, but his non-Italian heritage would have made him a surprising choice. Other candidates mentioned were Ernesto Ruffini of Palermo; and two curia officials, Valerio Valeri and
Alfredo Ottaviani Alfredo Ottaviani (29 October 1890 – 3 August 1979) was an Italian cardinal of the Catholic Church. Pope Pius XII named him cardinal in 1953. He served as secretary of the Holy Office in the Roman Curia from 1959 to 1966 when that dicaste ...
. Benedetto Masella, the 79-year-old chosen as camerlengo on 9 October, a veteran diplomat, was also mentioned as a compromise candidate with "his chances diminished because of his age". Also mentioned as a radical departure from tradition was
Giovanni Battista Montini Pope Paul VI ( la, Paulus VI; it, Paolo VI; born Giovanni Battista Enrico Antonio Maria Montini, ; 26 September 18976 August 1978) was head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 21 June 1963 to his death in Augus ...
, Archbishop of Milan, whom Pius had not made a cardinal. ''The New York Times'' cast a wide net, offering more than a dozen names, including two non-Italians,
Paul-Émile Léger Paul-Émile Léger (April 26, 1904 – November 13, 1991) was a Canadian Cardinal of the Roman Catholic Church. He served as Archbishop of Montreal from 1950 to 1967, and was elevated to the cardinalate in 1953 by Pope Pius XII. Early life and ...
of Montreal and
Manuel Goncalves Cerejeira Manuel may refer to: People * Manuel (name) * Manuel (Fawlty Towers), a fictional character from the sitcom ''Fawlty Towers'' * Charlie Manuel, manager of the Philadelphia Phillies * Manuel I Komnenos, emperor of the Byzantine Empire * M ...
of Lisbon. ''
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'' magazine's coverage included portraits of Agagianian, Lercaro, Montini, Ottaviani, Roncalli, Ruffini, Siri, and Valeri. As the press speculated about interest in a transitional pope and possible discussions among the cardinal electors, the Vatican's mouthpiece ''
Osservatore Romano ''L'Osservatore Romano'' (, 'The Roman Observer') is the daily newspaper of Vatican City State which reports on the activities of the Holy See and events taking place in the Catholic Church and the world. It is owned by the Holy See but is not a ...
'' denounced the "irresponsible lightness" with which the press approached the subject, especially its reports of electioneering. A Moscow radio broadcast criticized Pius for meddling in politics and hoped for a new pope devoted instead to "religious problems". Betting establishments reported Roncalli was favored by their clients, given 2 to 1 odds. By the second day of the conclave, after four ballots produced no results, speculation centered on Roncalli, Valeri, Masella, and Agagianian, the first three elderly and the last an unlikely outsider.


Participants

Pope Pius XII tried in the consistory of 1953 to bring the membership of the
College of Cardinals The College of Cardinals, or more formally the Sacred College of Cardinals, is the body of all cardinals of the Catholic Church. its current membership is , of whom are eligible to vote in a conclave to elect a new pope. Cardinals are app ...
to the maximum of 70, the limit established by Pope Sixtus V in the sixteenth century. On that occasion he named 24 cardinals. When one cardinal-designate,
Carlo Agostini Carlo Agostini (22 April 1888 – 28 December 1952) was an Italian prelate of the Catholic Church. He served as Patriarch of Venice from 1949 until his death, and died shortly after the announcement for his elevation to the cardinalate in ...
, died on 28 December at the age of 64, the Vatican announced another cardinal designate the next day,
Valerian Gracias Valerian Gracias (23 October 1900 – 11 September 1978) was an Indian Cardinal of the Roman Catholic Church. He served as Archbishop of Bombay from 1950 until his death and was elevated to the rank of cardinal in 1953 by Pope Pius XII. Biogr ...
of India, so the College reached its full complement of 70 members, with 26 of them Italian. Deaths in the intervening five years, including those of
Celso Costantini Celso Benigno Luigi Costantini (3 April 1876 – 17 October 1958) was an Italian Roman Catholic cardinal and the founder of the Disciples of the Lord who served as the Apostolic Chancellor from 1954 until his death. He became a cardinal in 1 ...
on 17 October and Edward Mooney of Detroit on 25 October just hours before the start of the conclave, had reduced the College to 53 members. József Mindszenty feared the Communist government of Hungary would not allow him to return if he attended the conclave, and government authorities refused to grant him safe conduct despite a request by the U.S. State Department at the request of the
College of Cardinals The College of Cardinals, or more formally the Sacred College of Cardinals, is the body of all cardinals of the Catholic Church. its current membership is , of whom are eligible to vote in a conclave to elect a new pope. Cardinals are app ...
.
Aloysius Stepinac Aloysius Viktor Cardinal Stepinac ( hr, Alojzije Viktor Stepinac, 8 May 1898 – 10 February 1960) was a senior-ranking Yugoslav Croat prelate of the Catholic Church. A cardinal, Stepinac served as Archbishop of Zagreb from 1937 until his dea ...
was too ill to travel from
Zagreb Zagreb ( , , , ) is the capital and largest city of Croatia. It is in the northwest of the country, along the Sava river, at the southern slopes of the Medvednica mountain. Zagreb stands near the international border between Croatia and Slov ...
, and he was forbidden from leaving
Yugoslavia Yugoslavia (; sh-Latn-Cyrl, separator=" / ", Jugoslavija, Југославија ; sl, Jugoslavija ; mk, Југославија ;; rup, Iugoslavia; hu, Jugoszlávia; rue, label=Pannonian Rusyn, Югославия, translit=Juhoslavija ...
as a condition of his release from prison in 1951. This reduced the number of attendees to 51, 15 of whom were in Rome on 9 October, 45 of whom were in or near Rome by 16 October. All 51 reached Rome by 22 October. Of the 51 electors who participated in the conclave, 17 were Italians. The required two-thirds plus one majority was 35 votes.


Balloting

The cardinals were required to set the starting date of the conclave between the 15th and 18th days following the death of the pope, no earlier than 24 October and no later than 27 October. On 11 October they set 25 October for its opening. The conclave was held from 25 to 28 October at the
Sistine Chapel The Sistine Chapel (; la, Sacellum Sixtinum; it, Cappella Sistina ) is a chapel in the Apostolic Palace, the official residence of the pope in Vatican City. Originally known as the ''Cappella Magna'' ('Great Chapel'), the chapel takes its nam ...
in the
Vatican Vatican may refer to: Vatican City, the city-state ruled by the pope in Rome, including St. Peter's Basilica, Sistine Chapel, Vatican Museum The Holy See * The Holy See, the governing body of the Catholic Church and sovereign entity recognized ...
. The voting patterns in the conclave are hard to establish, but some information is consistently reported. Identified as a group with a particular interest, French cardinals were thought to seek greater independence from Rome and
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of Poland was thought to be their ally. Several of the French also knew that Roncalli, as nuncio in Paris, had been influential in the careers. Roncalli himself had learned that he had many supporters in conversations with other cardinals before the conclave began. One newspaper reported that Cardinal Pierre-Marie Gerlier of Lyon, asked whom the French cardinals supported as he entered the conclave, said "Roncalli". Giovanni Battista Montini (later
Pope Paul VI Pope Paul VI ( la, Paulus VI; it, Paolo VI; born Giovanni Battista Enrico Antonio Maria Montini, ; 26 September 18976 August 1978) was head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 21 June 1963 to his death in Augus ...
), a longtime curia official who had recently become Archbishop of Milan, consistently received two votes even though he was not yet a cardinal. There was no ballot on the first day. Four ballots on the second day proved inconclusive. Both times the smoke that reported the results of the morning and afternoon ballots appeared white at first, leading to excited false reports that the election was over. The official responsible for arrangements outside the conclave notified the cardinals that the color of the smoke had been misread and provided them with "smoke torches from a fireworks factory". The third day's four ballots again failed to select a pope and there was no confusion about the color of the smoke. Requests from a doctor inside the conclave for medical records suggested several cardinals were ill. It took a few ballots for supporters of Lercaro, "who was known to favor a simplified liturgy in local languages", and "the aggressively sententious" Siri to recognize they could not garner the necessary 35 votes. The deadlock that then developed between Roncalli and Agagianian led Cardinal
Eugène Tisserant Eugène-Gabriel-Gervais-Laurent Tisserant (; 24 March 1884 – 21 February 1972) was a French prelate and cardinal of the Catholic Church. Elevated to the cardinalate in 1936, Tisserant was a prominent and long-time member of the Roman Curia. ...
, Dean of the College of Cardinals, to suggest Masella as a compromise candidate without success. Roncalli later said that his name and Agagianian's "went up and down like two chickpeas in boiling water". Black smoke reported the ninth and tenth ballots were inconclusive on 28 October at 11:10am. Roncalli accepted his election shortly before 5 pm on 28 October, the fourth day of the conclave and the third day of balloting, and white smoke signaled his election at 5:08 pm. When asked what his name would be, he responded with his surprising choice of a name that had been avoided for centuries: An antipope had used the name John XXIII during the
Western Schism The Western Schism, also known as the Papal Schism, the Vatican Standoff, the Great Occidental Schism, or the Schism of 1378 (), was a split within the Catholic Church lasting from 1378 to 1417 in which bishops residing in Rome and Avignon b ...
in the 15th century when three men claimed to be the pope, but Roncalli's mention of 22 "of indisputable legitimacy" established that he wanted to be ''John XXIII''. Some historians thought the question of the earlier John XXIII's legitimacy was unresolved, but Roncalli was less interested in ancient disputes than in the associations he had for the name ''John'' and a desire to break with the popes named ''Pius'' that preceded him. Later he gave Cardinal
Maurice Feltin Maurice Feltin (15 May 1883 – 27 September 1975) was a French Cardinal of the Roman Catholic Church. He served as Archbishop of Paris from 1949 to 1966, and was elevated to the cardinalate in 1953 by Pope Pius XII. Biography Born in Delle, ...
of Paris another reason: "in memory of France and in the memory of John XXII who continued the history of the papacy in France". Following an old tradition, immediately after his election, Pope John gave his scarlet
zucchetto The zucchetto (, also ,"zucchetto"
(US) and
,
to the Secretary of the conclave, Alberto di Jorio. This indicated that John would include him when he first named cardinals.
Nicola Canali Nicola Canali (6 June 1874 – 3 August 1961) was an Italian cardinal of the Roman Catholic Church. He served as president of the Pontifical Commission for Vatican City State from 1939 and as Major Penitentiary from 1941 until his death, and was ...
announced the results of the election and Roncalli's choice of name. Pope John appeared on the balcony of
St. Peter's Basilica The Papal Basilica of Saint Peter in the Vatican ( it, Basilica Papale di San Pietro in Vaticano), or simply Saint Peter's Basilica ( la, Basilica Sancti Petri), is a church built in the Renaissance style located in Vatican City, the papal e ...
and gave his blessing. At his request, the cardinals did not leave their enclosure but remained in the conclave overnight. He joined the cardinals for dinner that evening, but did not eat. The conclave ended the next day after Mass in the Sistine Chapel and an address by Pope John to the cardinals which was broadcast on radio. He set the date of his coronation for 4 November, sooner than is traditional and a Tuesday rather than the traditional Sunday, perhaps because it was the feast of Saint
Charles Borromeo Charles Borromeo ( it, Carlo Borromeo; la, Carolus Borromeus; 2 October 1538 – 3 November 1584) was the Archbishop of Milan from 1564 to 1584 and a cardinal of the Catholic Church. He was a leading figure of the Counter-Reformation combat ...
, whom Roncalli had made the subject of a five-volume study. He was reported to have expressed regret that he would "never again see Venice". Early reports said that Roncalli led in the balloting on the morning of the third day and then received almost unanimous support in that afternoon's single ballot. With the election of a 77-year-old, many churchmen interpreted the choice of Roncalli as picking a "pope of transition". John XXIII himself said, when he took possession of the Lateran Basilica on 23 November 1958: "We do not have the right to see a long way ahead of us." In early November, Pope John wrote letters to Mindszenty and Stepinac expressing regret that they were unable to participate in the conclave. On 17 November he announced a consistory to create new cardinals on 15 December. Ignoring the longstanding maximum of 70 members, he increased the size of the College to 74 members.


Siri thesis

Some
Sedevacantist Sedevacantism ( la, Sedevacantismus) is a doctrinal position within traditionalist Catholicism, which holds that the present occupier of the Holy See is not a valid pope due to the pope's espousal of one or more heresies and that therefore, fo ...
s believed that Cardinal Siri was actually elected Pope in the 1958 papal conclave on 26 October, taking the name of ''Gregory XVII'', but that his election was then suppressed, duress having been applied to him, especially by the French Cardinals led by the Dean of the College of Cardinals,
Eugène Tisserant Eugène-Gabriel-Gervais-Laurent Tisserant (; 24 March 1884 – 21 February 1972) was a French prelate and cardinal of the Catholic Church. Elevated to the cardinalate in 1936, Tisserant was a prominent and long-time member of the Roman Curia. ...
, who would have brought up the threat of anti-Catholic turmoils in USSR-dominated Eastern Europe, if Cardinal Siri, considered a staunch anti-Communist, became the new Pope. There was confusion prior to the final election concerning the smoke and who was really elected pope. While Siri was a favourite for election before the conclave, he failed to secure enough votes from traditionalist cardinals once the conclave started , because at 52 a long pontificate would have been anticipated, and his election would have likely prevented other cardinals who wished to be pope from being elected.


Conclave reform

John XXIII waited several years before issuing a ''
motu proprio In law, ''motu proprio'' (Latin for "on his own impulse") describes an official act taken without a formal request from another party. Some jurisdictions use the term ''sua sponte'' for the same concept. In Catholic canon law, it refers to a ...
'' to modify certain aspects of the procedures for a papal conclave. In '' Summi Ponitificis electio'', issued on 5 September 1962, he laid out additional rules for impressing all participants with the need for secrecy, even warning the cardinals about communications with their staff (paragraph XIV). His one practical modification reversed his predecessor:
Pius XII Pius ( , ) Latin for "pious", is a masculine given name. Its feminine form is Pia. It may refer to: People Popes * Pope Pius (disambiguation) * Antipope Pius XIII (1918-2009), who led the breakaway True Catholic Church sect Given name * Pius ...
had required a vote of two-thirds plus one for election. John XXIII returned the margin to two-thirds (paragraph XV).


Statistics


See also

* Cardinal electors for the papal conclave, 1958


Notes


References

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