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Thepapal conclaves of August 1978 andof October 1978 were convened to elect apope, the leader of theCatholic Church, to succeedPaul VI andJohn Paul I following their respective deaths on 6 August 1978 and on 28 September 1978. In accordance with theapostolic constitutionRomano Pontifici eligendo, which governed thevacancy of the Holy See, onlycardinals who had not passed their 80th birthday on the day on which theconclave began (in these cases, those who were born on or after 25 August 1898 for the first conclave, and on or after 14 October 1898 for the second conclave) were eligible to participate.[1] Although not formal requirements, the cardinal electors almost always elect the pope from among their number. The election was carried out by secret ballot (Latin:per scrutinium).[1] Due to the brief duration between the conclaves, the respective lists of cardinal electors are nearly identical.
Of the 129 members of theCollege of Cardinals at the time of the beginning of the first conclave, 114 cardinal electors were eligible to participate in the subsequent conclave.[a][3] Three cardinal electors did not attend, decreasing the number of participants to 111.[4] Two cardinal electors died in the time between the conclaves.[5][6] Of the 126 members of the College of Cardinals at the time of the beginning of the second conclave, 111 cardinal electors were eligible to participate in the subsequent conclave;[b][7] all of whom were in attendance.[8] The required two-thirds-plus-onesupermajority needed to elect a pope in either conclave was 75 votes.[1]
Of the 112 cardinal electors who attended at least one of the two conclaves, 5 werecardinal bishops, 92 werecardinal priests, and 15 werecardinal deacons; 3 had been created cardinals byPope Pius XII, 8 byPope John XXIII, and 101 by Pope Paul VI; 28 worked in the service of theHoly See (such as in theRoman Curia), 77 were in pastoral ministry outside Rome, and 10 had retired.[c] The oldest cardinal elector in the conclaves wasJoseph-Marie Trịnh Như Khuê, at the age of 79, and the youngest wasJaime Lachica Sin, at the age of 49–50. Another 15 cardinals were ineligible to participate in either conclave for reasons of age.[3][7]
The cardinal electors entered theSistine Chapel to begin the first conclave on 25 August 1978.[9] On 26 August, after four ballots over two days, they elected CardinalAlbino Luciani, thepatriarch of Venice, who took thepapal name John Paul I.[10] After his death 33 days into his papacy, the cardinal electors again entered the Sistine Chapel to begin the second conclave on 14 October.[11] On 16 October, after eight ballots over three days, they elected CardinalKarol Wojtyła, thearchbishop of Kraków, who took the papal name John Paul II.[12]
TheCollege of Cardinals is divided into three orders – cardinal bishops (CB),cardinal priests (CP), andcardinal deacons (CD) – withformal precedence in that sequence. This determines the order in which the cardinal electors entered the conclave, took the oath, and cast their ballots.[1][4][8] For cardinal bishops (except the Eastern Catholicpatriarchs), thedean of the College of Cardinals isfirst in precedence, followed by the vice-dean, and then by the remainder in order of appointment as cardinal bishops. For cardinal bishops who are Eastern Catholic patriarchs, cardinal priests, and cardinal deacons, precedence is determined by the date of theconsistory in which they were created cardinals and then by the order in which they appeared in the official announcement or bulletin.[4][8]
Two of the cardinal electors in the 1978 conclaves were from theEastern Catholic Churches:Stéphanos I Sidarouss (Coptic) andJoseph Parecattil (Syro-Malabar). In both conclaves, the senior cardinal bishop, the senior cardinal priest, the senior cardinal deacon, and the junior cardinal deacon[d] were, respectively,Jean-Marie Villot,Giuseppe Siri,Pericle Felici, andMario Luigi Ciappi.[4][8] Villot was also thecamerlengo of the Holy Roman Church, who was in charge of administering the Holy See during its vacancy.[1][13]
The 112 cardinal electors in the table below are those who participated in at least one of the two conclaves. Two cardinals participated in only one:Albino Luciani, elected Pope John Paul I in the first conclave and whose death prompted the second conclave;[14] andJohn Joseph Wright, who did not participate in the first conclave for health reasons owing to surgery.[15] Another two cardinal electors did not participate in the first conclave; both died before the second conclave began.[5][6] The data below are as of 25 August 1978 or 14 October 1978, the respective dates on which the conclaves began. Age ranges are given for some cardinals in the case of any differences in age as at the beginning of the two conclaves. All cardinals are of theLatin Church unless otherwise stated. Cardinals belonging toinstitutes of consecrated life or tosocieties of apostolic life are indicated by the relevantpost-nominal letters.
| Rank | Name | Country | Born | Order | Consistory | Office | Reason for absence | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Valerian Gracias | India | 23 October 1901 (age 76) | CP | 12 January 1953 Pius XII | Archbishop of Bombay | Ill health; died on 11 September 1978, before the second conclave | [5] |
| 2 | Bolesław Filipiak | Poland | 1 September 1901 (age 76–77) | CD | 24 May 1976 Paul VI | Dean emeritus of theSacred Roman Rota | Ill health; died on 14 October 1978, the day on which the second conclave began | [6] |
The 112 attending cardinal electors in either conclave were from 49 countries[k] on all six inhabited continents. The countries with the greatest number of cardinal electors wereItaly (twenty-six in the first conclave, twenty-five in the second conclave), theUnited States (eight in the first conclave, nine in the second conclave; excludingPuerto Rico), andFrance (seven in both conclaves).
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| Governing documents (selected) |
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