1939 papal conclave
Papal conclave March 1939 | |
---|---|
Dates and location | |
1–2 March 1939 Sistine Chapel, Apostolic Palace, Vatican City | |
Key officials | |
Dean | Gennaro Granito Pignatelli di Belmonte |
Sub-dean | Donato Sbarretti |
Camerlengo | Eugenio Pacelli |
Protopriest | William Henry O'Connell |
Protodeacon | Camillo Caccia-Dominioni |
Secretary | Vincenzo Santoro |
Election | |
Ballots | 3 |
Elected pope | |
Eugenio Pacelli Name taken: Pius XII | |
Following the death of Pope Pius XI on 10 February 1939, all 62 cardinals of the Catholic Church met in the papal conclave of 1939 on 1 March. The next day, on the third ballot, they elected Eugenio Cardinal Pacelli, who was Camerlengo and Secretary of State, as pope. He accepted and took the name Pius XII. It was his 63rd birthday.
The conclave of 1939 was the shortest of the 20th century.[1]
Pacelli was the first member of the Roman Curia to become pope since Gregory XVI (1831)[2] and the first Roman since Innocent XIII (1731).[3]
Papabili
Time magazine announced that likely contenders for the papacy included August Hlond of Gniezno-Poznań, Karl Joseph Schulte of Cologne, the Curia veteran Eugène-Gabriel-Gervais-Laurent Tisserant, Ildefonso Schuster of Milan, Adeodato Giovanni Piazza of Venice, Maurilio Fossati of Turin, and Eugenio Pacelli, a longtime diplomat in the service of the Holy See. The prospect of a non-Italian pope for the first time since Pope Adrian VI in 1522 was considered more likely than in previous conclaves.[4][5] On 13 February the New York Times dismissed the idea of a non-Italian given the current state of international hostilities, though it thought Jean-Marie-Rodrigue Villeneuve of Quebec the least objectionable to the contending powers. It discounted Pacelli since there was no precedent for the election of the Secretary of State, and precedent argued against the election of any member of the Curia as well as three key Italians who were members of religious orders. The five Italians remaining were Alessio Ascalesi of Naples, Giovanni Nasalli Rocca di Corneliano of Bologna, Luigi Lavitrano of Palermo, Maurilio Fossati of Turin, and Elia dalla Costa of Florence.[6] By 20 February the paper found greater interest in the curial cardinals, Francesco Marmaggi, Massimo Massimi, and Luigi Maglione.[7]
Pacelli was heavily favored among the cardinals to win. Pius XI had hinted that he favored Pacelli as his successor.[8] On 15 December 1937, during his last consistory, Pius XI strongly hinted to the cardinals that he expected Pacelli to be his successor, saying "He is in your midst."[9][10] He had previously been quoted as saying: "When today the Pope dies, you'll get another one tomorrow, because the Church continues. It would be a much bigger tragedy, if Cardinal Pacelli dies, because there is only one. I pray every day, God may send another one into one of our seminaries, but as of today, there is only one in this world."[10]
Like Pius X, Pius XI had been a blunt-spoken, no-nonsense pontiff. Assembling in 1939 as the outbreak of hostilities that became World War II was widely anticipated, the cardinals turned to a soft-spoken diplomat.
Balloting
Pacelli, in his role as Camerlengo, announced on 10 February that the College would wait the maximum time allowed, eighteen days from the death of the pope, to start the conclave. The time period before starting had been lengthened following the previous conclave, for which three North American cardinals had arrived too late to participate.[11][12] When the 31 cardinals available discussed the question on 11 February, they amended his plan only to provide that they would start earlier if all those who planned to attend had arrived in Rome.[5] The cardinals arrived slowly in Rome, with just 37 attending the papal funeral on 14 February[13] and 46 at a funeral Mass on 18 February.[14] By 20 February, starting the conclave on 28 February appeared to be a possibility, as only three non-Italians had yet to arrive: William Henry O'Connell of Boston, Sebastião da Silveira Cintra of Rio de Janeiro, and Santiago Copello of Buenos Aires.[15] On 22 February the cardinals sitting in general congregation settled on 1 March, expecting the three to arrive at Naples on the S.S. Neptunia on that morning.[16]
The conclave was held in the Apostolic Palace. All the cardinals attended, 35 Italians and 27 from other countries.[6] The doors closed at 6:17 pm.[17]
Pacelli won narrow victory on the second ballot with the lowest possible two-thirds majority, 42 out of 62. He then asked for an additional ballot to confirm his election by a larger margin.[11][a] To the question "Acceptasne electionem de te canonice factam in Summum Pontificem?", Pacelli replied "Accepto in crucem" (I accept it as a cross). He explained his choice of Pius by saying, "I call myself Pius; my whole life was under Popes with this name, but especially as a sign of gratitude towards Pius XI."[19]
Duration | 2 days |
---|---|
Number of ballots | 3 |
Electors | 62 |
Absent | 0 |
Africa | 0 |
Latin America | 2 |
North America | 4 |
Asia | 1 |
Europe | 55 |
Oceania | 0 |
Italians | 35 |
DECEASED POPE | PIUS XI (1922–1939) |
NEW POPE | PIUS XII (1939–1958) |
The white smoke signifying a successful election appeared at 5:30 pm, but began to turn black.[4] Vincenzo Santoro, the conclave secretary, then sent a note to Vatican Radio to confirm that the smoke was white and Pacelli had been elected.[20] At 6:06 pm,[2] the Protodeacon, Cardinal Camillo Caccia-Dominioni, made the Habemus Papam announcement in Latin from the balcony of St. Peter's Basilica. He said that the new pope had chosen the name Pius and did not mention the ordinal “the twelfth”.[21][22][23] The crowd below in St. Peter's Square began to sing the hymn Christus Vincit.[2]
Change in conclave procedure
Pius had been narrowly elected before seeking an additional ballot to demonstrate wider support, and he knew that a very close ballot in the 1914 conclave had raised the question of the impact of cardinal's vote for himself. Pius promulgated the apostolic constitution Vacantis Apostolicae Sedis on 8 December 1945, more than six years after his election. He made only one significant change in conclave procedures, otherwise following those established by Pope Pius X on 25 December 1904 with the constitution Vacante Sede Apostolica.[24] He increased the majority required for election from two-thirds of those voting to two-thirds plus one, so that an elector's vote for himself would be insufficient to produce a two-thirds majority. He also eliminated the rule against voting for oneself, which the two-thirds-plus-one rule obviated.[25][26]
See also
Cardinal electors for the papal conclave, 1939
Notes
References
- ^ Allen Jr., John L. (2002). Conclave: The Politics, Personalities, and Process of the Next Papal Election. Doubleday. Retrieved 2 November 2017.
- ^ a b c "Hailed by Throngs" (PDF). New York Times. 3 March 1939. Retrieved 4 November 2017.
- ^ Padellaro, Nazareno (1957). Portrait of Pius XII. Dutton. p. 7.
- ^ a b "Death of a Pope". Time. 20 February 1939.
- ^ a b "31 Cardinals Meet to Plan Conclave" (PDF). New York Times. 12 February 1939. Retrieved 2 November 2017.
- ^ a b "5 Cardinals Lead in Vatican Contest" (PDF). New York Times. 13 February 1939. Retrieved 2 November 2017.
- ^ "Vatican Regards Americans Highly" (PDF). New York Times. 20 February 1939. Retrieved 4 November 2017.
- ^ Weigel, George (21 April 2005). "Conclaves: Surprises abound in the Sistine Chapel". Madison Catholic Herald. Retrieved 13 February 2014.
- ^ "Medius vestrum stetit quem vos nescetis. Everybody knew what the pope meant". Domenico Cardinale Tardini, Pio XII, Tipografia Poliglotta Vaticana, 1960, p. 105 Template:It icon
- ^ a b Lehnert, Pascalina (1986). Ich durfte Ihm Dienen: Erinnerungen an Papst Pius XII (in German). Würzburg: Naumann. pp. 49, 57. ISBN 3885670410.
- ^ a b c Walsh, Michael (2003). The Conclave: A Sometimes Secret and Occasionally Bloody History of Papal Elections. Sheed & Ward. p. 150. Retrieved 2 November 2017.
- ^ "Conclave to Elect Pope is Postponed to March 1" (PDF). New York Times. 11 February 1939. Retrieved 2 November 2017.
- ^ "Pope Pius is Buried in St. Peter's Crypt with Splendid Rite" (PDF). New York Times. 13 February 1939. Retrieved 2 November 2017.
- ^ "Rites at St. Peter's Held by Cardinals" (PDF). New York Times. 18 February 1939. Retrieved 4 November 2017.
- ^ "Rites for Pope Pius Brought to a Close" (PDF). New York Times. 20 February 1939. Retrieved 4 November 2017.
- ^ "Vatican Conclave is Set for March 1" (PDF). New York Times. 22 February 1939. Retrieved 4 November 2017.
- ^ "Vatican Door Shut on 62 Cardinals as Conclave Opens to Elect Pope" (PDF). New York Times. 2 March 1939. Retrieved 4 November 2017.
- ^ Pham, John-Peter (2004). Heirs of the Fisherman: Behind the Scenes of Papal Death and Succession. Oxford University Press. p. 114. Retrieved 2 November 2017.
- ^ Brosch, Joseph (1968). Pius XII, Lehrer der Wahrheit. Trier: Kreuzring. p. 45.
- ^ "The "Siri Thesis" Unravels". Inside the Vatican.
- ^ "Habemus Papam – Pope Pius XII". YouTube. Retrieved 21 December 2012.
- ^ "Habemus Papam! – Pope Pio XII" (in Italian). YouTube. Retrieved 17 March 2013.
- ^ "Habemus Papam Pope Pius XII" (in Italian). YouTube. Retrieved 10 October 2013.
- ^ Jedin, Hubert, ed. (1981). "The Code and Development of Canon Law to 1974". The Church in the Modern Age. Vol. X. London: Burns & Oates. p. 157. Retrieved 25 November 2017.
- ^ Pham, John-Peter (2004). Heirs of the Fisherman: Behind the Scenes of Papal Death and Succession. Oxford University Press. p. 333. Retrieved 25 November 2017.
- ^ Pope Pius XII (8 December 1945). "Vacantis Apostolicae Sedis" (Document) (in Latin). Libreria Editrice Vaticana;
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- Sources
- Alvarez, David; Graham, Robert A. (2013). Nothing Sacred: Nazi Espionage Against the Vatican, 1939-1945. New York: Routledge. pp. 65–67. ISBN 978-1-135-21714-3.
- Kertzer, David I. (2014). The Pope and Mussolini: The Secret History of Pius XI and the Rise of Fascism in Europe. Oxford University Press.
{{cite book}}
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(help) - Tornielli, Andrea (2007). Pio XII: Eugenio Pacelli : un uomo sul trono di Pietro (in Italian). Milano: Mondadori. ISBN 978-88-04-57010-3.
- Ventresca, Robert A. (2013). "4. A Tremendous Responsibility". Soldier of Christ: The Life of Pope Pius XII. Cambridge MA USA: Harvard University Press. pp. 129–138. ISBN 978-0-674-06730-1.
External links
- Pope Pius XII (8 December 1945). "Vacantis Apostolicae Sedis" (Document) (in Latin). Libreria Editrice Vaticana.
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