HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

The October 1978 papal conclave was triggered by the death of
Pope John Paul I Pope John Paul I ( la, Ioannes Paulus I}; it, Giovanni Paolo I; born Albino Luciani ; 17 October 1912 – 28 September 1978) was head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City from 26 August 1978 to his death 33 days later. Hi ...
on 28 September 1978, just 33 days after his election on 26 August. The conclave to elect John Paul I's successor began on 14 October and ended two days later on 16 October, after eight ballots. The cardinal electors selected Cardinal Karol Józef Wojtyła,
Archbishop of Kraków The Archbishop of Kraków is the head of the archdiocese of Kraków. A bishop of Kraków first came into existence when the diocese was created in 1000; it was promoted to an archdiocese on 28 October 1925. Due to Kraków's role as Poland's politic ...
, as the new pope. Resulting in the most recent Year of Three Popes, he accepted his election and took the pontifical name of ''John Paul II''.


''Papabili'' and proceedings

Ten days after the funeral of
Pope John Paul I Pope John Paul I ( la, Ioannes Paulus I}; it, Giovanni Paolo I; born Albino Luciani ; 17 October 1912 – 28 September 1978) was head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City from 26 August 1978 to his death 33 days later. Hi ...
, on 14 October, the doors of the
Sistine Chapel The Sistine Chapel (; la, Sacellum Sixtinum; it, Cappella Sistina ) is a chapel in the Apostolic Palace, the official residence of the pope in Vatican City. Originally known as the ''Cappella Magna'' ('Great Chapel'), the chapel takes its nam ...
were sealed and the conclave commenced. It was divided between two particularly strong candidates for the papacy: Cardinal
Giuseppe Siri Giuseppe Siri (20 May 1906 – 2 May 1989) was an Italian cardinal of the Catholic Church who served as Archbishop of Genoa from 1946 to 1987, and was elevated to the rank of cardinal in 1953. He was a protege of Pope Pius XII. He was considered ...
, the conservative archbishop of Genoa, and Cardinal
Giovanni Benelli Giovanni Benelli (12 May 1921 – 26 October 1982) was an Italian Cardinal of the Roman Catholic Church. He served as Archbishop of Florence from 1977 until his death. He was made a cardinal in 1977. Biography Early life and ordination Giovann ...
, the liberal
archbishop of Florence The Archdiocese of Florence ( la, Archidioecesis Florentina) is a metropolitan see of the Catholic Church in Italy.
and a close associate of John Paul I. Inside the conclave were three non-cardinals. One was
Donald Wuerl Donald William Wuerl (born November 12, 1940) is an American prelate, a cardinal, of the Catholic Church. He served as Archbishop of Washington, D.C., from 2006 to 2018. He was elevated by Pope John Paul II to serve as auxiliary bishop of S ...
who, as secretary to the frail Cardinal John Wright, was allowed inside the Sistine Chapel to assist him. This conclave had the same number of cardinals as the first conclave of 1978. Only Albino Luciani himself (who became Pope John Paul I) was absent from this conclave after having attended the first conclave of 1978, and numerically this was offset by the presence of Cardinal Wright at this conclave. Supporters of Benelli were confident that he would be elected. In early ballots, Benelli came within nine votes. But the scale of opposition to both ''papabili'' meant that neither was likely to receive the two-thirds majority for election. Among the Italian contingent, Cardinal Giovanni Colombo, the
Archbishop of Milan The Archdiocese of Milan ( it, Arcidiocesi di Milano; la, Archidioecesis Mediolanensis) is a Latin Church ecclesiastical territory or archdiocese of the Catholic Church in Italy which covers the areas of Milan, Monza, Lecco and Varese. It has lon ...
, was the only viable compromise candidate, but when he started to receive votes, he announced that if elected he would decline the papacy. Cardinal
Franz König Franz König (3 August 1905 – 13 March 2004) was an Austrian Cardinal of the Catholic Church. He served as archbishop of Vienna from 1956 to 1985, and was elevated to the cardinalate in 1958. The last surviving cardinal elevated by Pope John ...
, the influential and widely respected
archbishop of Vienna The Archbishop of Vienna is the prelate of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Vienna who is concurrently the metropolitan bishop of its ecclesiastical province which includes the dioceses of Eisenstadt, Linz and St. Pölten. From 1469 to 1513, bi ...
, individually suggested to his fellow electors a compromise candidate: the Polish Cardinal
Karol Józef Wojtyła Pope John Paul II ( la, Ioannes Paulus II; it, Giovanni Paolo II; pl, Jan Paweł II; born Karol Józef Wojtyła ; 18 May 19202 April 2005) was the head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 1978 until his ...
, whom König knew and by whom he was highly impressed. Also among those cardinals who rallied behind Wojtyła were supporters of Siri,
Stefan Wyszyński Stefan Wyszyński (3 August 1901 – 28 May 1981) was a Polish prelate of the Catholic Church. He served as the bishop of Lublin from 1946 to 1948, archbishop of Warsaw and archbishop of Gniezno from 1948 to 1981. He was created a cardinal on ...
, most of the American cardinals (led by John Krol), and other
moderate Moderate is an ideological category which designates a rejection of radical or extreme views, especially in regard to politics and religion. A moderate is considered someone occupying any mainstream position avoiding extreme views. In American ...
cardinals. Wojtyła ultimately defeated Benelli (who was supposedly the candidate Wojtyła himself had voted for) on the eighth ballot on the third day with, according to the Italian press, 99 votes from the 111 participating electors. He accepted his election with these words: "With obedience in faith to Christ, my Lord, and with trust in the Mother of Christ and the Church, in spite of great difficulties, I accept." The pope, in tribute to his immediate predecessor, then took the name of John Paul II. He became the first non-
Italian Italian(s) may refer to: * Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries ** Italians, an ethnic group or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom ** Italian language, a Romance language *** Regional Ita ...
pope The pope ( la, papa, from el, πάππας, translit=pappas, 'father'), also known as supreme pontiff ( or ), Roman pontiff () or sovereign pontiff, is the bishop of Rome (or historically the patriarch of Rome), head of the worldwide Cathol ...
since the
Dutch Dutch commonly refers to: * Something of, from, or related to the Netherlands * Dutch people () * Dutch language () Dutch may also refer to: Places * Dutch, West Virginia, a community in the United States * Pennsylvania Dutch Country People E ...
Adrian VI Pope Adrian VI ( la, Hadrianus VI; it, Adriano VI; nl, Adrianus/Adriaan VI), born Adriaan Florensz Boeyens (2 March 1459 – 14 September 1523), was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 9 January 1522 until his d ...
, who reigned from 1522 to 1523. At 6:18 p.m.
local time Local time is the time observed in a specific locality. There is no canonical definition. Originally it was mean solar time, but since the introduction of time zones it is generally the time as determined by the time zone in effect, with daylight s ...
(17:18 UTC), the white smoke rose from the chimney of the Sistine Chapel, announcing to the public that a new pope had been elected. The senior cardinal deacon, Pericle Felici, after quickly checking the correct pronunciation of the new pope's Polish name with Cardinal
Stefan Wyszyński Stefan Wyszyński (3 August 1901 – 28 May 1981) was a Polish prelate of the Catholic Church. He served as the bishop of Lublin from 1946 to 1948, archbishop of Warsaw and archbishop of Gniezno from 1948 to 1981. He was created a cardinal on ...
, gave the traditional
Latin Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power of the ...
announcement of Wojtyła's election from the balcony of St. Peter's Basilica. John Paul II appeared on the balcony at 7:15, and while gripping the balustrade, delivered a brief speech before his first ''
Urbi et Orbi ''Urbi et Orbi'' ('to the city f Romeand to the world') denotes a papal address and apostolic blessing given by the pope on certain solemn occasions. Etymology The term ''Urbi et Orbi'' evolved from the consciousness of the ancient Roman Empir ...
'' blessing in Italian:


See also

*
Cardinal electors for the 1978 papal conclaves The papal conclaves of August 1978 and of October 1978 were respectively convened to elect a pope, the leader of the Catholic Church, to succeed Paul VI and John Paul I following their respective deaths on 6 August ...


References


External links


A "Foreign" Pope
from ''Time'' Magazine, 30 October 1978. (Subscription required.)
"Exhilarating Roman Experiences of Prof. George Menachery"
an Indian journalist's memoir of the conclave {{DEFAULTSORT:1978 10 papal conclave 1978 in Vatican City 1978 elections in Europe 1978 10 Pope John Paul II 20th-century Catholicism 1978 in Christianity October 1978 events in Europe Political history of Vatican City