1939 conclave

''Papabili''

Main article: Papabile

Time magazine announced that likely contenders for the papacy included August Hlond of Gniezno-Poznań, Karl Joseph Schulte of Cologne, the Curia veteran Eugène 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 Adrian VI in 1522 was considered more likely than in previous conclaves. By 20 February, the paper found greater interest in the curial cardinals, Francesco Marmaggi, Massimo Massimi, and Luigi Maglione.

Pacelli was, however, heavily favored among the cardinals to win. Pius XI had hinted that he favored Pacelli as his successor. 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." 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."

Like Pius X, Pius XI had been a blunt-spoken, no-nonsense pontiff. Assembling in 1939, as the outbreak of hostilities that became the Second World War was widely anticipated, the cardinals turned swiftly to Pacelli, a soft-spoken Vatican 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. 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. The cardinals arrived slowly in Rome, with just 37 attending the papal funeral on 14 February, and 46 at a funeral Mass on 18 February. 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. 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.

The conclave was held as per tradition in the Sistine Chapel in the Apostolic Palace. All the cardinals attended, 35 Italians and 27 from other countries.

Pacelli won a narrow victory on just 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. Another adds that Pacelli's ballot was examined after the second ballot to establish that he had not voted for himself.

The white smoke signifying a successful election appeared at 5:30 pm on 2 March, but began to turn black. At 6:06 pm, 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 but did not mention the ordinal "the twelfth". The crowd below in St. Peter's Square began to sing the hymn Christus Vincit.

New regulations

Pius XII had been narrowly elected pope 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 a cardinal's vote for himself. Pius XII promulgated the apostolic constitution Vacantis Apostolicae Sedis on 8 December 1945, more than six years after his election. He made only two significant changes in conclave procedures, otherwise following those established by Pius X on 25 December 1904 with the constitution Vacante Sede Apostolica. Firstly, 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. It holds, though, that if one had an exact two-thirds majority, not counting one's own vote, a cardinal could cast the deciding vote for himself. Secondly, from 1621 to 1945, the ballots used to be signed with folded over flaps to conceal the signatures of the electors. Pius XII removed the signature portion of the new form of ballot, so that a completely secret ballot is now cast by each elector with the oath taken at the same moment, now being anonymous. All this is clearly stated in the apostolic constitution Vacantis Apostolicae Sedis promulgated by Pius XII on 8 December 1945.

Notes

References

Citations

Sources

• Acts of the Apostolic See established 1908 by St Pius X, under Vatican auspices and website

References

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19. (3 March 1939). "Hailed by Throngs". The New York Times.
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24. (2004). "Heirs of the Fisherman: Behind the Scenes of Papal Death and Succession". Oxford University Press.
25. Pope Pius XII. (8 December 1945). "Vacantis Apostolicae Sedis". Libreria Editrice Vaticana.
26. Acts of the Apostolic See, Vol 38, 1946. pages 65-99