1903 papal conclave

Last updated
Papal conclave
July–August 1903
Dates and location
31 July – 4 August 1903
Sistine Chapel, Apostolic Palace,
Rome
Key officials
Dean Luigi Oreglia di Santo Stefano
Sub-dean Serafino Vannutelli
Camerlengo Luigi Oreglia di Santo Stefano
Protopriest José Sebastião Neto
Protodeacon Luigi Macchi
Election
Vetoed Mariano Rampolla
Ballots7
Elected pope
Giuseppe Melchiorre Sarto
Name taken: Pius X
Pius X, by Francesco De Federicis, 1903 (retouched).jpg
  1878
1914  

The papal conclave held from 31 July to 4 August 1903 saw the election of Cardinal Giuseppe Melchiorre Sarto to become pope in succession to Leo XIII, who had died on 20 July after a 25-year-long pontificate. Some 62 cardinals participated in the balloting. Emperor Franz Joseph of Austria asserted the right claimed by certain Catholic rulers to veto a candidate for the papacy, blocking the election of the leading candidate, Cardinal Secretary of State Mariano Rampolla. Sarto was elected on the seventh ballot and took the name Pius X.

Contents

Background

The pontificate of Leo XIII came to an end on 20 July 1903 after 25 years, longer than any previous elected pope, except his predecessor Pius IX; together, they had reigned 57 years. While Pius had been a conservative reactionary, Leo had been seen as a liberal, certainly in comparison with his predecessor. As cardinals gathered, the key question was whether a pope would be chosen who would continue Leo's policies or return to the style of papacy of Pius IX.

Of the 64 cardinals, 62 participated, [1] the largest number to enter a conclave up until that time. [2] Luigi Oreglia di Santo Stefano was the only elector with previous experience of electing a pope. [3] Health prevented Michelangelo Celesia of Palermo from traveling and Patrick Francis Moran of Sydney was not expected before August 20. [2] The conclave included James Gibbons of Baltimore, who was the first American cardinal to participate in a papal conclave.

Balloting

When the cardinals assembled in the Sistine Chapel, attention focused on Cardinal Secretary of State Mariano Rampolla, though cardinals from the German and Austro-Hungarian Empires preferred a candidate more closely aligned with their interests, which meant relatively hostile to France and republicanism and less supportive of the social justice advocacy of Leo XIII. They were persuaded that their first choice, Serafino Vannutelli, who had been a Vatican diplomat in Vienna, was not electable and settled on Girolamo Maria Gotti instead.

After a first day without balloting, the cardinals voted once each morning and once each afternoon. The first ballots were taken on the second day of the conclave, and that afternoon's ballot had 29 votes for Rampolla, 16 for Gotti, and 10 for Giuseppe Melchiorre Sarto, and others scattered. [4] Some of the Germans thought that Gotti's appeal was limited and decided to support Sarto as their best alternative to Rampolla, who otherwise appeared likely to win the two-thirds vote required, which was 42. As the cardinals were completing their third set of ballots on the morning of 2 August, Cardinal Jan Puzyna de Kosielsko, the Prince-Bishop of Kraków and a subject of Austria-Hungary, acting on instructions from Franz Joseph, Emperor of Austria, exercised the Emperor's right of jus exclusivae , that is, to veto one candidate. [note 1] At first there were objections and some cardinals wanted to ignore the Emperor's communication. Then Rampolla called it "an affront to the dignity of the Sacred College" but withdrew himself from consideration saying that "with regard to my humble person, I declare that nothing could be more honorable, nothing more agreeable could have happened." Nevertheless the third ballot showed no change in support for Rampolla, still with 29 votes, while the next two candidates had switched positions, with 21 for Sarto and 9 for Gotti. Several cardinals later wrote of their disgust at the Emperor's intervention, one writing that it left a "great, painful impression on all".

The afternoon tested the remaining sympathy for Rampolla, who gained a single vote, while Sarto had 24 and Gotti fell to 3. The precise impact of the Emperor's intervention is difficult to assess, since Rampolla continued to have strong support for several ballots. Yet one contemporaneous assessment held that "After calm reflection, those who had voted for Rampolla up to this time had to consider that an election against the expressed wish of the Emperor of Austria would at once place the new Pope in a most unpleasant position." [7] The fifth ballot on the morning on the fourth day (3 August) showed Sarto leading with 27, Rampolla down to 24, and Gotti at 6, with a few still scattered. Sarto then announced that the cardinals should vote for someone else, that he did not have what was required of a pope. The movement toward Sarto continued in the afternoon: Sarto 35, Rampolla 16, Gotti 7. On the morning of 4 August, on the seventh ballot, the conclave elected Sarto with 50 votes, leaving 10 for Rampolla and 2 for Gotti. [8] [9]

Before he was officially announced to the crowds, a priest got an inside tip that Sarto had been elected. [10] He climbed up to a spot where he could be seen by the crowd, and then open and closed two fingers to represent a pair of scissors. [10] This was understood by some to mean that Sarto, which means "tailor" in Italian, had been elected. [10]

Sarto took the name Pius X. Following the practice of his two immediate predecessors since the 1870 invasion of Rome, Pius X gave his first Urbi et Orbi blessing on a balcony facing into St. Peter's Basilica rather than facing the crowds outside, a symbolic representation of his opposition to Italian rule of Rome and his demand for a return of the Papal States to his authority.

End of the veto

Pope Pius X (1903-1914) wearing the 1834 Papal Tiara of Pope Gregory XVI PopePiusX.JPG
Pope Pius X (1903–1914) wearing the 1834 Papal Tiara of Pope Gregory XVI

On 20 January 1904, less than six months after his election, Pius X issued the apostolic constitution Commissum Nobis [5] which prohibited the exercise of the jus exclusivae. Where previous popes had issued rules restricting outside influence on the cardinal electors, Pius used more thorough and detailed language, prohibiting not only the assertion of the right to veto but even the expression of "a simple desire" to that effect. He set automatic excommunication as the penalty for violating his strictures. He also required conclave participants to swear an oath to abide by these rules and not allow any influence by "lay powers of any grade or order".

Data

PAPAL CONCLAVE, 1903
Duration4 days
Number of ballots7
Electors64
Absent2
Present62
Africa0
Latin America0
North America1
Asia0
Europe61
Oceania0
Mid-East0
Italians36
Veto usedby Emperor Francis Joseph of Austria
against Mariano Rampolla del Tindaro
DECEASED POPELEO XIII (1878–1903)
NEW POPEPIUS X (1903–1914)

Notes

  1. Three leading Catholic heads of state claimed the jus exclusivae: the King of France, the King of Spain, and the Holy Roman Emperor. The Emperor never explained his reasons, but it was likely provoked by Rampolla's policies as Secretary of State, especially his attempt to seek a rapprochement with the anticlerical government of the French Third Republic as Secretary of State. The Italian government, which had no veto, also resented the policies of Rampolla, a southern Italian, toward their government dominated by northern Italian interests. [5] [6]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pope Pius X</span> Head of the Catholic Church from 1903 to 1914

Pope Pius X was head of the Catholic Church from 4 August 1903 to his death. Pius X is known for vigorously opposing modernist interpretations of Catholic doctrine, and for promoting liturgical reforms and Thomist scholastic theology. He initiated the preparation of the 1917 Code of Canon Law, the first comprehensive and systemic work of its kind, which would ultimately be promulgated by his successor. He is venerated as a saint in the Catholic Church.

Papabile is an unofficial Italian term first coined by Vaticanologists and now used internationally in many languages to describe a Catholic man, in practice always a cardinal, who is thought a likely or possible candidate to be elected pope.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mariano Rampolla</span> Italian cardinal (1843–1913)

Mariano Rampolla del Tindaro was an Italian Cardinal in the Roman Catholic Church, and the last man to have his candidacy for papal election vetoed through jus exclusivae by a Catholic monarch.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jan Puzyna de Kosielsko</span> Polish cardinal

Prince Jan Duklan Maurycy Paweł Puzyna de Kosielsko was a Polish Roman Catholic Cardinal who was auxiliary bishop of Lwów from 1886 to 1895, and the bishop of Kraków from 1895 until his death in 1911. Named a Cardinal in 1901, he was known for his conservative views and authoritarianism.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">1846 papal conclave</span> Election of Pope Pius IX

In the papal conclave held from 14 to 16 June 1846, Giovanni Maria Mastai Ferretti, Bishop of Imola, was elected on the fourth ballot to succeed the recently deceased Gregory XVI as pope. He took the name Pius IX. Of the 62 members of the College of Cardinals, 52 assembled in the Quirinal Palace, one of the papal palaces in Rome and the seat of two earlier 19th century conclaves. The conclave was the last to elect a ruler of the Papal States, the extensive lands around Rome and Northern Italy which the Catholic Church governed until 1870.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">1878 papal conclave</span> Election of Pope Leo XIII

The papal conclave held from 18 to 20 February 1878 saw the election of Vincenzo Pecci, who took the name Leo XIII as pope. Held after the death of Pius IX, who had had the longest pontificate since Saint Peter, it was the first election of a pope who would not rule the Papal States. It was the first to meet in the Apostolic Palace in the Vatican because the venue used earlier in the 19th century, the Quirinal Palace, was now the palace of the king of Italy, Umberto I.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Vincenzo Vannutelli</span> Italian prelate

Vincenzo Vannutelli was an Italian prelate of the Roman Catholic Church. He spent his career in the foreign service of the Holy See and was made a cardinal in 1890.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rafael Merry del Val</span> Spanish cardinal (1865–1930)

Rafael Merry del Val y Zulueta, was a Spanish Catholic bishop, Vatican official, and cardinal.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pietro La Fontaine</span>

Pietro La Fontaine was an Italian Roman Catholic cardinal who served as the Patriarch of Venice from 1915 until his death. He was also a member of the Roman Curia and held several other positions prior to his elevation to the cardinalate and patriarchate. La Fontaine remained a simple pastor at heart and was known for his gentleness and his welcoming nature as both a bishop and patriarch. He was supportive of some aspects of fascism but came to oppose it when he saw it was becoming a totalitarian regime. La Fontaine was viewed as "papabile" in the 1922 papal conclave that elected Pope Pius XI and was a serious contender for the papal see, having garnered a great deal of votes until Cardinal Ratti's selection on the fourteenth ballot.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Serafino Vannutelli</span> Italian prelate

Serafino Vannutelli was an Italian prelate of the Catholic Church, a cardinal and official of the Roman Curia where he held several of the highest administrative posts. Made a cardinal in 1887, he was named a cardinal-bishop in 1893 and elected dean of the College of Cardinals in 1915 and he died shortly after. He was thought a possible candidate for the papacy in 1903.

Jus exclusivae was the right claimed by several Catholic monarchs of Europe to veto a candidate for the papacy. Although never formally recognized by the Catholic Church, the monarchs of France, Spain and Austria claimed this right at various times, making known to a papal conclave, through a crown-cardinal, that the monarch deemed a particular candidate for the papacy objectionable.

Domenico Serafini, O.S.B. Subl. was an Italian Cardinal of the Roman Catholic Church who served in various pastoral, diplomatic, and curial posts, and was elevated to the cardinalate in 1914.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gennaro Granito Pignatelli di Belmonte</span> Italian cardinal

Gennaro Granito Pignatelli di Belmonte was an Italian Cardinal of the Roman Catholic Church and a prominent member of the Roman Curia.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Luigi Oreglia di Santo Stefano</span>

Luigi Oreglia di Santo Stefano was a cardinal of the Catholic Church in the late nineteenth century. He was Bishop of Ostia e Velletri and Dean of the Sacred College of Cardinals from 1896 until his death.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Girolamo Maria Gotti</span>

Girolamo Maria Gotti, OCD, sometimes erroneously called Giuseppe Gotti, was a friar of the Discalced Carmelite Order, who served in various offices of the Holy See as a cardinal of the Roman Catholic Church.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cardinal electors for the 1922 papal conclave</span>

The 53 cardinal electors in the 1922 papal conclave are listed by region, and within each alphabetically by country. Seven out of the sixty electors did not participate, three for reasons of health: José María Martín de Herrera y de la Iglesia, Giuseppe Antonio Ermenegildo Prisco, and Lev Skrbenský z Hříště. Joaquim Arcoverde de Albuquerque Cavalcanti of São Sebastião do Rio de Janeiro knew he could not reach Rome in time for the conclave and did not attempt the journey. The other three non-European cardinals–William Henry O'Connell of Boston, Denis Dougherty of Philadelphia, and Louis-Nazaire Bégin of Québec City–did not arrive in time to participate in the conclave. Within a month of his election, Pope Pius XI lengthened the waiting period before the start of a papal conclave to allow cardinals from distant places to participate in the balloting.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cardinal electors for the 1914 papal conclave</span>

Of the 65 cardinals eligible to participate, 57 served as cardinal electors in the 1914 papal conclave. Arranged by region and within each alphabetically. Eight did not participate in the conclave. William Henry O'Connell and James Gibbons arrived too late from the United States, as did Louis-Nazaire Bégin from Quebec. Sebastiano Martinelli, Franziskus von Sales Bauer, Kolos Ferenc Vaszary, Giuseppe Antonio Ermenegildo Prisco, and François-Virgile Dubillard were too ill or too frail.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bartolomeo Bacilieri</span> Italian Catholic cardinal

Bartolomeo Bacilieri was an Italian Cardinal of the Roman Catholic Church. He served as Bishop of Verona from 1900 until his death, and was elevated to the cardinalate in 1901.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Benedetto Lorenzelli</span> Italian Catholic cardinal (1853–1915)

Benedetto Lorenzelli was an Italian Cardinal of the Roman Catholic Church He served as Prefect of the Sacred Congregation of Studies from 1914 until his death, and was elevated to the cardinalate in 1907.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Francesco di Paola Cassetta</span> Italian cardinal

Francesco di Paola Cassetta was an Italian Cardinal of the Catholic Church who served as Prefect of the Sacred Congregation of the Council from 1914 until his death, and was elevated to the cardinalate in 1899.

References

  1. 1 2 Burkle-Young, Francis A. (2000). Papal Elections in the Age of Transition 1878-1922. Rowman & Littlefield. pp. 161–2. ISBN   0-7391-0114-5.
  2. 1 2 "Sixty-Two Cardinals in Rome for Conclave" (PDF). New York Times. 30 July 1903. Retrieved 15 November 2017.
  3. Burkle-Young, Francis A. (2000). Papal Elections in the Age of Transition 1878-1922. Rowman & Littlefield. p. 72. ISBN   0-7391-0114-5.
  4. Barrett, David V. (2 June 2014). "Ballot sheets from 1903 conclave to be sold at auction". Catholic Herald. Archived from the original on 25 June 2016. Retrieved 16 November 2017.
  5. 1 2 Wikisource-logo.svg Herbermann, Charles, ed. (1913). "Right of Exclusion". Catholic Encyclopedia . New York: Robert Appleton Company. Retrieved 15 November 2017
  6. Walsh, Michael (2003). The Conclave: A Sometimes Secret and Occasionally Bloody History of Papal Elections. Sheed & Ward. p. 146. ISBN   9781461601814 . Retrieved 17 November 2017.
  7. Schmidlin, Josef; de Waal, Anton (1904). Life of His Holiness Pope Pius X. Benziger Brothers. pp.  188 . Retrieved 17 November 2017.
  8. Pham, John-Peter (2004). Heirs of the Fisherman: Behind the Scenes of Papal Death and Succession . Oxford University Press. Retrieved 17 November 2017.
  9. Schmidlin, Josef; de Waal, Anton (1904). Life of His Holiness Pope Pius X. Benziger Brothers. pp. 186ff. Retrieved 17 November 2017.
  10. 1 2 3 Callahan, William R. (August 31, 1948). "Boston Pilgrims Recall Personal Contacts with Late Pope Pius X". The Boston Globe. p. 18. Retrieved September 4, 2023.
  11. Schmidlin, Josef; de Waal, Anton (1904). Life of His Holiness Pope Pius X. Benziger Brothers. pp. 151ff. Retrieved 17 November 2017.
Additional sources