| Papal conclave February 1878 | |
|---|---|
| Dates and location | |
| 18–20 February 1878 Sistine Chapel,Apostolic Palace, Vatican Hill,Rome | |
| Key officials | |
| Dean | Luigi di San Filippo e Sorso |
| Sub-dean | Camillo di Pietro |
| Camerlengo | Gioacchino Pecci |
| Protopriest | Josef von Schwarzenberg |
| Protodeacon | Prospero Caterini |
| Secretary | Pietro Lasagni |
| Election | |
| Ballots | 3 |
| Elected pope | |
| Gioacchino Pecci Name taken:Leo XIII | |
 | |
← 1846 1903 → | |
Thepapal conclave held from 18 to 20 February 1878 saw the election of CardinalGioacchino Pecci to becomepope in succession to the recently deceasedPius IX, who had had the longestpontificate sinceSaint Peter. 61 of the 64 cardinals participated in the balloting. It was the first election of a pope who would not rule thePapal States and the first to meet in theApostolic Palace in theVatican, since the venue used earlier in the 19th century, theQuirinal Palace, was now the palace of theking of Italy,Umberto I. Pecci was elected on the third ballot andtook the name Leo XIII.
When the cardinals assembled, they faced a dilemma. Should they choose a pope who would continue to espouse Pius IX'sreactionary religious and political views, and would continue to refuse to accept Italy'sLaw of Guarantees guaranteeing the pope religious liberty in theKingdom of Italy? Or should they turn away from the policies of Pius IX and choose a more liberal pope who could work for reconciliation with the king of Italy? Would choosing such a policy be seen as a betrayal of Pius IX, the self-proclaimed "prisoner in the Vatican"?
Other broader issues included Church-State relations in Italy, theThird French Republic, Ireland and the United States; theheresy Leo XIII later calledAmericanism; divisions in the Church caused by the proclamation ofpapal infallibility by theFirst Vatican Council; and the status of theFirst Vatican Council, which had been halted suddenly and never concluded. The length of Pius IX's reign suggested[how?] the cardinals give special consideration to the age and health of the man they elected.
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 previousconclave in 1846:Luigi Amat di San Filippo e Sorso,Fabio Maria Asquini, andDomenico Carafa della Spina di Traetto.
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.[1] 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 theSistine Chapel in theVatican on 18 February 1878.
Going into the conclave, Cardinal Pecci was the onecandidate favored to be elected, in part because many of the cardinals who headed to Rome had already decided to elect him.[2] In addition to Pecci's competent administration as camerlengo during the briefsede vacante 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.[2] Pecci's election was also facilitated in thatAlessandro Franchi, the candidate favored by the conservatives, urged his supporters to switch their support to the camerlengo.[2]
One account reported the voting tabulations without providing its source.[3]
On the first ballot, held on the morning of 19 February the votes were
This ballot was ruled invalid because at least one cardinal did not mark his ballot properly.[4]
The election of Cardinal Pecci, who took the nameLeo 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 inghettos and his treatment of minorities had been condemned by world leaders such asGladstone), 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 byPope John Paul II, 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.
| Duration | 2 days |
|---|---|
| Ballots | 3 |
| Electors | 64 |
| Absent | 3 |
| Present | 61 |
| Italy | 40 |
| Rest of Europe | 21 |
| North America | 0 |
| South America | 0 |
| Africa | 0 |
| Asia | 0 |
| Oceania | 0 |
| Veto used | None |
| DECEASED POPE | Pius IX (1846–1878) |
| NEW POPE | Leo XIII (1878–1903) |
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