papal conclave A conclave is a gathering of the College of Cardinals convened to appoint the pope of the Catholic Church. Catholics consider the pope to be the apostolic successor of Saint Peter and the earthly head of the Catholic Church. Concerns around ...

was held from 18 to 20 February 1878 to elect a new

pope The pope is the bishop of Rome and the Head of the Church#Catholic Church, visible head of the worldwide Catholic Church. He is also known as the supreme pontiff, Roman pontiff, or sovereign pontiff. From the 8th century until 1870, the po ...

to succeed

Pius IX Pope Pius IX (; born Giovanni Maria Battista Pietro Pellegrino Isidoro Mastai-Ferretti; 13 May 1792 – 7 February 1878) was head of the Catholic Church from 1846 to 1878. His reign of nearly 32 years is the longest verified of any pope in hist ...

, who had died on 7 February. Of the 64 eligible cardinal electors, all but three attended. On the third ballot, the conclave elected Cardinal Gioacchino Pecci, the camerlengo of the Apostolic Chamber and archbishop-bishop of Perugia. After accepting his election, he took the name ''Leo XIII''. It was the first election of a pope who would not rule the

Papal States The Papal States ( ; ; ), officially the State of the Church, were a conglomeration of territories on the Italian peninsula under the direct sovereign rule of the pope from 756 to 1870. They were among the major states of Italy from the 8th c ...

and the first to meet in the

Apostolic Palace The Apostolic Palace is the official residence of the Pope, the head of the Catholic Church, located in Vatican City. It is also known as the Papal Palace, the Palace of the Vatican and the Vatican Palace. The Vatican itself refers to the build ...

in the

Vatican Vatican may refer to: Geography * Vatican City, an independent city-state surrounded by Rome, Italy * Vatican Hill, in Rome, namesake of Vatican City * Ager Vaticanus, an alluvial plain in Rome * Vatican, an unincorporated community in the ...

, since the venue used earlier in the 19th century, the

Quirinal Palace The Quirinal Palace ( ) is a historic building in Rome, Italy, the main official residence of the President of Italy, President of the Italian Republic, together with Villa Rosebery in Naples and the Tenuta di Castelporziano, an estate on the outs ...

, was now the palace of the

king of Italy King is a royal title given to a male monarch. A king is an absolute monarch if he holds unrestricted governmental power or exercises full sovereignty over a nation. Conversely, he is a constitutional monarch if his power is restrained by ...

, Umberto I.

Background

The cardinals assembled to conduct the conclave faced a number of questions. Chief of these questions was whether to choose a pope who would continue

Pope Pius IX Pope Pius IX (; born Giovanni Maria Battista Pietro Pellegrino Isidoro Mastai-Ferretti; 13 May 1792 – 7 February 1878) was head of the Catholic Church from 1846 to 1878. His reign of nearly 32 years is the longest verified of any pope in hist ...

reactionary In politics, a reactionary is a person who favors a return to a previous state of society which they believe possessed positive characteristics absent from contemporary.''The New Fontana Dictionary of Modern Thought'' Third Edition, (1999) p. 729. ...

religious and political views, including the unacceptance of Italy's

Law of Guarantees The Law of Guarantees (), sometimes also called the Law of Papal Guarantees, was the name given to the law passed by the senate and chamber of the Parliament of the Kingdom of Italy, 13 May 1871, concerning the prerogatives of the Holy See, and th ...

, which guaranteed the pope religious liberty in the

Kingdom of Italy The Kingdom of Italy (, ) was a unitary state that existed from 17 March 1861, when Victor Emmanuel II of Kingdom of Sardinia, Sardinia was proclamation of the Kingdom of Italy, proclaimed King of Italy, until 10 June 1946, when the monarchy wa ...

; Pius IX had previously described himself as a

prisoner in the Vatican A prisoner in the Vatican (; ) or prisoner of the Vatican described the situation of the pope with respect to the Kingdom of Italy during the period from the capture of Rome by the Royal Italian Army on 20 September 1870 until the Lateran Treaty ...

due to the situation. Conversely, the cardinals could also choose a candidate who would turn away from Pius IX's policies and could work for reconciliation with the king of Italy. Other broader issues included the church-state relations in Italy; the

Third French Republic The French Third Republic (, sometimes written as ) was the system of government adopted in France from 4 September 1870, when the Second French Empire collapsed during the Franco-Prussian War, until 10 July 1940, after the Fall of France duri ...

; Ireland and the United States; the

heresy Heresy is any belief or theory that is strongly at variance with established beliefs or customs, particularly the accepted beliefs or religious law of a religious organization. A heretic is a proponent of heresy. Heresy in Heresy in Christian ...

which

Pope Leo XIII Pope Leo XIII (; born Gioacchino Vincenzo Raffaele Luigi Pecci; 2March 181020July 1903) was head of the Catholic Church from 20 February 1878 until his death in July 1903. He had the fourth-longest reign of any pope, behind those of Peter the Ap ...

later called Americanism; divisions in the church caused by the proclamation of

papal infallibility Papal infallibility is a Dogma in the Catholic Church, dogma of the Catholic Church which states that, in virtue of the promise of Jesus to Saint Peter, Peter, the Pope when he speaks is preserved from the possibility of error on doctrine "in ...

by the

First Vatican Council The First Ecumenical Council of the Vatican, commonly known as the First Vatican Council or Vatican I, was the 20th ecumenical council of the Catholic Church, held three centuries after the preceding Council of Trent which was adjourned in 156 ...

; and the status of the

, which had been halted suddenly and never concluded. The length of Pius IX's reign suggested the cardinals give special consideration to the age and health of the man they elected.

Balloting

Some 61 of 64 cardinals entered the conclave. Two others arrived too late from New York and Dublin to participate, and one did not attend for health reasons. Three of the 61 had participated in the previous conclave in 1846: Luigi Amat di San Filippo e Sorso, Fabio Maria Asquini, and

Domenico Carafa della Spina di Traetto Domenico is an Italian given name for males and may refer to: People * Domenico Alfani, Italian painter * Domenico Allegri, Italian composer * Domenico Alvaro, Italian mobster * Domenico Ambrogi, Italian painter * Domenico Auria, Italian a ...

. With what many churchmen believed was the "unstable" and "anti-Catholic" situation in a Rome that was no longer controlled by the church, some cardinals, notably Cardinal Manning, Archbishop of Westminster, urged that the conclave be moved outside Rome, perhaps even to Malta. However, Camerlengo Gioacchino Pecci advocated otherwise, and an initial vote among cardinals to move to Spain was overturned in a later vote. The conclave finally assembled in the

Sistine Chapel The Sistine Chapel ( ; ; ) is a chapel in the Apostolic Palace, the pope's official residence in Vatican City. Originally known as the ''Cappella Magna'' ('Great Chapel'), it takes its name from Pope Sixtus IV, who had it built between 1473 and ...

in the

on 18 February 1878. Going into the conclave, Cardinal Pecci was the one candidate favored to be elected, in part because many of the cardinals who headed to Rome had already decided to elect him. In addition to Pecci's competent administration as camerlengo during the brief period up to the conclave, Pecci was seen as the opposite of Pope Pius IX in terms of manner and temperament, and had also had a successful diplomatic career prior to being archbishop-bishop of Perugia. Pecci's election was also facilitated in that Alessandro Franchi, the candidate favored by the conservatives, urged his supporters to switch their support to the camerlengo. One account reported the voting tabulations without providing its source.

First ballot

On the first ballot, held on the morning of 19 February, the votes were: * Vincenzo Gioacchino Raffaele Luigi Pecci, 19 votes * Luigi Bilio, 6 votes * Alessandro Franchi, 4 votes This ballot was ruled invalid because at least one cardinal did not mark his ballot properly.

Second ballot

On the second ballot, held on the afternoon of 19 February, the votes were: * Pecci, 26 votes * Bilio, 7 votes * Franchi, 2 votes

Third ballot

On the third ballot, held on the morning of 20 February, Pecci was elected pope; the account noting the tabulations for each ballot stated that he had received 44 votes.

Aftermath

The election of Cardinal Pecci, who took the name ''Leo XIII'', was a victory for the liberals. Pecci had been an effective bishop whose diocese had moved from the Papal States to the Kingdom of Italy successfully, without Church problems. He was seen as a diplomatic pragmatist with the tact and flexibility opponents of the previous pope believed Pius IX lacked. At 68, Leo was also young enough to do the job without hindrance of health problems but old enough to offer the prospect of a relatively short reign of ten to fifteen years. Whereas Pius IX was seen as having isolated the Church from international opinion (his confining Jews in

ghetto A ghetto is a part of a city in which members of a minority group are concentrated, especially as a result of political, social, legal, religious, environmental or economic pressure. Ghettos are often known for being more impoverished than other ...

s and his treatment of minorities had been condemned by world leaders such as

Gladstone William Ewart Gladstone ( ; 29 December 1809 – 19 May 1898) was a British politican, starting as Conservative MP for Newark and later becoming the leader of the Liberal Party (UK), Liberal Party. In a career lasting over 60 years, he ...

), Leo was seen as an "internationalist" who could earn back the Vatican some international respect. Though always seemingly in poor health and delicate condition, Leo reigned for 25 years. He had the third longest reign of any pope until that time. Leo XIII was later surpassed by

Pope John Paul II Pope John Paul II (born Karol Józef Wojtyła; 18 May 19202 April 2005) was head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 16 October 1978 until Death and funeral of Pope John Paul II, his death in 2005. In his you ...

, who reigned for 26 years and six months from his election in October 1978 to his death in April of 2005. When Leo XIII died on 20 July 1903 at the age of 93, he had lived to be older than any of his known predecessors. He would be surpassed by

Pope Benedict XVI Pope BenedictXVI (born Joseph Alois Ratzinger; 16 April 1927 – 31 December 2022) was head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 19 April 2005 until his resignation on 28 February 2013. Benedict's election as p ...

, who died at the age of 95.

Participants

* ''Dates'': 18–20 February 1878 * ''Location'':

* ''Absent'': ** Godefroy Brossais-Saint-Marc, Archbishop of Rennes (France) ** Paul Cullen,

Archbishop of Dublin The Archbishop of Dublin () is an Episcopal polity, archiepiscopal title which takes its name from Dublin, Republic of Ireland, Ireland. Since the Reformation in Ireland, Reformation, there have been parallel apostolic successions to the title: ...

(Primate of Ireland) **

John McCloskey John McCloskey (March 10, 1810 – October 10, 1885) was an Catholic Church in the United States, American Catholic prelate who served as the first American-born Roman Catholic Archdiocese of New York, Archbishop of New York from 1864 until his ...

, Archbishop of New York (United States) * ''Present'': ** Luigi Amat di San Filippo e Sorso,

Dean of the College of Cardinals The dean of the College of Cardinals () presides over the College of Cardinals in the Catholic Church, serving as ('first among equals'). The position was established in the 12th century. He always holds the rank of a cardinal bishop and is as ...

, Cardinal-Bishop of Ostia and Velletri ** Camillo di Pietro, Cardinal-Bishop of Porto e Santa Ruffina ** Carlo Sacconi,

Cardinal-Bishop of Palestrina The Suburbicarian Diocese of Palestrina () is a Latin suburbicarian diocese centered on the comune of Palestrina in Italy. The current bishop of Palestrina is Mauro Parmeggiani, who was appointed by Pope Francis on 19 February 2019. Prior to hi ...

** Filippo Maria Guidi, Cardinal-Bishop of Frascati ** Luigi Bilio, Cardinal-Bishop of Sabina ** Carlo Luigi Morichini,

Cardinal-Bishop of Albano The Diocese of Albano () is a Latin suburbicarian see of the Diocese of Rome in Italy, comprising seven towns in the Province of Rome. Albano Laziale is situated on the Appian Way some from Rome. Since 1966, it has both a titular bishop and ...

** Friedrich Johannes Jacob Celestin von Schwarzenberg, Prince-Archbishop of Prague (Bohemia, part of

Austria-Hungary Austria-Hungary, also referred to as the Austro-Hungarian Empire, the Dual Monarchy or the Habsburg Monarchy, was a multi-national constitutional monarchy in Central Europe#Before World War I, Central Europe between 1867 and 1918. A military ...

) ** Fabio Maria Asquini, Prefect of the Sacred Congregation of Indulgences and Sacred Relics **

, Archbishop of Benevento ** Ferdinand-François-Auguste Donnet, Bordeaux ** Gioacchino Pecci, Camerlengo, Archbishop-Bishop of Perugia (Italy) ** Antonio Benedetto Antonucci, Ancona ** Antonio Maria Panebianco, Prefect of the Sacred Congregation for Indulgences and Sacred Relics ** Antonio Saverio De Luca, prefect of the Pontifical Congregation for Studies ** Jean Baptiste François Pitra, librarian of the

Vatican Library The Vatican Apostolic Library (, ), more commonly known as the Vatican Library or informally as the Vat, is the library of the Holy See, located in Vatican City, and is the city-state's national library. It was formally established in 1475, alth ...

** Henri-Marie-Gaston Boisnormand de Bonnechose, Rouen ** Gustav Adolph von Hohenlohe, Archpriest of

Santa Maria Maggiore Santa Maria Maggiore (), also known as the Basilica of Saint Mary Major or the Basilica of Saint Mary the Great, is one of the four Basilicas in the Catholic Church#Major and papal basilicas, major papal basilicas and one of the Seven Pilgrim C ...

** Lucien-Louis-Joseph-Napoleon Bonaparte, Cardinal of Santa Pudenziana ** Innocenzo Ferrieri, Camerlengo of the Sacred College of Cardinals ** Giuseppe Berardi, Cardinal-Priest of Santi Marcellino e Pietro al Laterano ** Juan Ignacio Moreno y Maisanove, Toledo ** Raffaele Monaco La Valletta, Cardinal Vicar General of Rome ** Inácio do Nascimento de Morais Cardoso,

Patriarch of Lisbon The Patriarch of Lisbon (, ), also called the Cardinal-Patriarch of Lisbon once he has been made cardinal, is the ordinary bishop of the Archdiocese of Lisbon. He is one of the few patriarchs in the Latin Church of the Catholic Church, along wi ...

** René-François Régnier,

Archbishop of Cambrai This is a List of bishops and archbishops of Cambrai, that is, of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Cambrai. Bishops For the first bishops of Arras and Cambrai, who resided at the former place, see Roman Catholic Diocese of Arras. On the death ...

(France) ** Flavio Chigi, Grand Prior of Rome of the

Sovereign Military Order of Malta The Sovereign Military Order of Malta (SMOM), officially the Sovereign Military Hospitaller Order of Saint John of Jerusalem, of Rhodes and of Malta, and commonly known as the Order of Malta or the Knights of Malta, is a Catholic lay religious ...

** Alessandro Franchi, Prefect of Propagande Fide **

Joseph-Hippolyte Guibert Joseph-Hippolyte Guibert (; 13 December 1802 in Aix-en-Provence, Bouches-du-Rhône – 1886, Paris) was a French Catholic Archbishop of Paris and Cardinal (Catholicism), Cardinal. A member of the Missionary Oblates of Mary Immaculate, his tenur ...

, Archbishop of Paris (France) ** Luigi Oreglia di Santo Stefano, Prefect of the Sacred Congregation of Indulgences and Relics ** János Simor,

Esztergom Esztergom (; ; or ; , known by Names of European cities in different languages: E–H#E, alternative names) is a city with county rights in northern Hungary, northwest of the capital Budapest. It lies in Komárom-Esztergom County, on the righ ...

** Tommaso Martinelli, Prefect of the

Congregation for the Causes of Saints In the Catholic Church, the Dicastery for the Causes of Saints, previously named the Congregation for the Causes of Saints (), is the dicastery of the Roman Curia that oversees the complex process that leads to the canonization of saints, passi ...

** Ruggero Luigi Emidio Antici Mattei ** Pietro Giannelli, Cardinal-Priest of

Sant'Agnese fuori le mura The church of Saint Agnes Outside the Walls () is a Titular church, titular churches of Rome, church, a minor basilica in Rome, on a site sloping down from the Via Nomentana, which runs north-east out of the city, still under its ancient name. W ...

** Mieczyslaw Halka Ledóchowski, Archbishop of Gnesen and Posen, (

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It extends from the Baltic Sea in the north to the Sudetes and Carpathian Mountains in the south, bordered by Lithuania and Russia to the northeast, Belarus and Ukrai ...

, part of the

German Empire The German Empire (),; ; World Book, Inc. ''The World Book dictionary, Volume 1''. World Book, Inc., 2003. p. 572. States that Deutsches Reich translates as "German Realm" and was a former official name of Germany. also referred to as Imperia ...

) **

Henry Edward Manning Henry Edward Manning (15 July 1808 – 14 January 1892) was an English prelate of the Catholic Church, and the second Archbishop of Westminster from 1865 until his death in 1892. He was ordained in the Church of England as a young man, but co ...

Archbishop of Westminster The archbishop of Westminster heads the Roman Catholic Diocese of Westminster, in England. The incumbent is the metropolitan of the Province of Westminster, chief metropolitan of England and Wales and, as a matter of custom, is elected presid ...

(Head of the

Catholic Church in England and Wales The Catholic Church in England and Wales (; ) is part of the worldwide Catholic Church in full communion with the Holy See. Its origins date from the 6th century, when Pope Gregory I through a Roman missionary and Benedictine monk, Augustine, ...

) ** Victor-Auguste-Isidor Deschamps,

Archbishop of Mechelen In Christian denominations, an archbishop is a bishop of higher rank or office. In most cases, such as the Catholic Church, there are many archbishops who either have jurisdiction over an ecclesiastical province in addition to their own archdio ...

(

Belgium Belgium, officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. Situated in a coastal lowland region known as the Low Countries, it is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeas ...

). **

Giovanni Simeoni Giovanni Simeoni (July 12, 1816 – January 14, 1892) was an Italian prelate of the Catholic Church who was appointed a cardinal in 1875 and served as Prefect of the Sacred Congregation for Propagation of the Faith from 1878 until his deat ...

, Secretary of State of the Holy See **

Domenico Bartolini Domenico Bartolini (Rome, 26 August 1880 – 5 April 1960) was an Italian politician and civil servant, who served as Minister of Finance of the Badoglio I Cabinet, the first after the fall of the Fascist regime. Biography From 1908 to 19 ...

, Cardinal-Priest of San Marco Evangelista al Campidoglio ** Bartolomeo d'Avanzo, Bishop of Calvi e Teano (Italy) ** Johann Baptist Franzelin, Jesuit theologian, Cardinal-Priest of

Santi Bonifacio ed Alessio The Basilica dei Santi Bonifacio e(d) Alessio is a basilica, rectory church served by the Somaschans, and titular church for a cardinal-priest on the Aventine Hill in the third prefecture of central Rome, Italy. It is dedicated to Saint Bonif ...

** Francisco de Paula Benavides y Navarrete, Patriarch of the West Indies ** Francesco Saverio Apuzzo, Archbishop of Capua ** Emmanuele Garcia Gil, Zaragoza **

Edward Henry Howard Edward Henry Howard (13 February 1829 – 16 September 1892) was an English Catholic priest and archbishop, who was made a Cardinal (Catholicism), cardinal in 1877. He was a relative of the Duke of Norfolk, Dukes of Norfolk. Howard is in the epi ...

, Protector of the English College at Rome ** Miguel Payá y Rico, Santiago de Compostella ** Louis-Marie Caverot, Lyon ** Luigi di Canossa, Verona ** Luigi Serafini, Viterbo ** Josip Mihalovic, Zagreb ** Johann Rudolf Kutschker,

Archbishop of Vienna The Archbishop of Vienna is the prelate of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Vienna who is concurrently the metropolitan bishop of its ecclesiastical province which includes the dioceses of Eisenstadt, Linz and St. Pölten. From 1469 to 1513, ...

** Lucido Parocchi, Bologna ** Vincenzo Moretti, Ravenna ** Antonio Pellegrini, Cardinal-Deacon of

Santa Maria in Aquiro Santa Maria in Aquiro is a church in Rome, Italy. It is dedicated in honor of Mary, mother of Jesus, and is located on Piazza Capranica. The church is ancient—it was restored by Pope Gregory III in the 8th century, and thus must have existed ...

** Prospero Caterini, Protodeacon, Secretary of the

Inquisition The Inquisition was a Catholic Inquisitorial system#History, judicial procedure where the Ecclesiastical court, ecclesiastical judges could initiate, investigate and try cases in their jurisdiction. Popularly it became the name for various med ...

. ** Teodolfo Mertel, Prefect of the

Apostolic Signatura The Supreme Tribunal of the Apostolic Signatura () is the highest judicial authority in the Catholic Church (apart from the pope himself, who as supreme ecclesiastical judge is the final point of appeal on any ecclesiastical matter). In addition, ...

; the last cardinal to not be ordained to the priesthood ** Domenico Consolini, Prefect of the Pontifical Roman Seminary of Sts. Peter and Paul for the Foreign Missions **

Edoardo Borromeo Edoardo Borromeo (3 August 1822 – 30 November 1881) was an Italian Cardinal of the Roman Catholic Church. He was ''Maestro di Camera'' to Pius IX and was Cardinal-Deacon of Santi Vito, Modesto e Crescenzio from 1868 to 1878. He was the sevent ...

, President of the Fabric of Saint Peter **

Lorenzo Ilarione Randi Lorenzo may refer to: People * Lorenzo (name) Places Peru * San Lorenzo Island (Peru), sometimes referred to as the island of Lorenzo United States * Lorenzo, Illinois * Lorenzo, Texas * San Lorenzo, California, formerly Lorenzo * Lorenzo State ...

, Vice-Camerlengo of the

Apostolic Camera The Apostolic Camera (), formerly known as the was an office in the Roman Curia. It was the central board of finance in the papal administrative system and at one time was of great importance in the government of the States of the Church and ...

** Bartolomeo Pacca il Giovane, Cardinal-Deacon of

Santa Maria in Campitelli Santa Maria in Campitelli or Santa Maria in Portico (''Santa Maria in Portico di Campitelli'') is a church dedicated to the Virgin Mary on the narrow Piazza di Campitelli in Rione Sant'Angelo, Rome, Italy. The church is served by the Clerics R ...

** Lorenzo Nina, Prefect of the Congregation for Studies ** Enea Sbarretti, Cardinal-Deacon of Santa Maria dei Martiri (the Pantheon) ** Frédéric de Falloux du Coudray, Cardinal-Deacon of

Sant'Agata de' Goti Sant'Agata de' Goti is a ''comune'' (municipality) and former Catholic bishopric in the Province of Benevento in the Italian region Campania, located about northeast of Naples and about west of Benevento near the Monte Taburno. History Sant' ...

Notes

References

External links

L’Osservatore Romano article revealing ballots in 1878 conclave
{{Subject bar , portal1= Catholicism , portal2= Christianity , portal3= Vatican City , b=y, b-search=Biblical Studies/Christianity/Roman Catholicism/History , commons=y, commons-search=Papal conclave , n=y, n-search=Roman Catholic Church , q=y, q-search=Popes , s=y, s-search=Popes , v=y, v-search=Christian History , wikt=y, wikt-search=Pope , d=y 1878 in Italy 1870s in Rome 1878 elections in Europe

1878 Events January * January 5 – Russo-Turkish War: Battle of Shipka Pass IV – Russian and Bulgarian forces defeat the Ottoman Empire. * January 9 – Umberto I becomes King of Italy. * January 17 – Russo-Turkish War: ...

Pope Pius IX 19th-century Catholicism 1878 in Christianity February 1878