The 1963 papal conclave was convoked following the death of
Pope John XXIII
Pope John XXIII ( la, Ioannes XXIII; it, Giovanni XXIII; born Angelo Giuseppe Roncalli, ; 25 November 18813 June 1963) was head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 28 October 1958 until his death in June 19 ...
on 3 June 1963 in the
Apostolic Palace
The Apostolic Palace ( la, Palatium Apostolicum; it, Palazzo Apostolico) is the official residence of the pope, the head of the Catholic Church, located in Vatican City. It is also known as the Papal Palace, the Palace of the Vatican and the V ...
. After the
cardinal electors
A cardinal ( la, Sanctae Romanae Ecclesiae cardinalis, literally 'cardinal of the Holy Roman Church') is a senior member of the clergy of the Catholic Church. Cardinals are created by the ruling pope and typically hold the title for life. Col ...
assembled in Rome, the conclave to elect John's successor began on 19 June and ended two days later, on 21 June, after six ballots. The
cardinals
Cardinal or The Cardinal may refer to:
Animals
* Cardinal (bird) or Cardinalidae, a family of North and South American birds
**''Cardinalis'', genus of cardinal in the family Cardinalidae
**''Cardinalis cardinalis'', or northern cardinal, the ...
elected Cardinal Giovanni Battista Montini,
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 l ...
. He accepted the election and took the name ''Paul VI''. On 30 June
Paul VI was crowned with a
tiara
A tiara (from la, tiara, from grc, τιάρα) is a jeweled head ornament. Its origins date back to ancient Greece and Rome. In the late 18th century, the tiara came into fashion in Europe as a prestigious piece of jewelry to be worn by women ...
in the last
papal coronation
A papal coronation is the formal ceremony of the placing of the papal tiara on a newly elected pope. The first recorded papal coronation was of Pope Nicholas I in 858. The most recent was the 1963 coronation of Paul VI, who soon afterwards aband ...
to date.
Background
John XXIII's death left the future of the
Second Vatican Council
The Second Ecumenical Council of the Vatican, commonly known as the , or , was the 21st Catholic ecumenical councils, ecumenical council of the Roman Catholic Church. The council met in St. Peter's Basilica in Rome for four periods (or sessions) ...
in the balance, as the election of an anti-Council pope could have severely curbed the Council's role. The leading ''
papabile
''Papabile'' (, also , ; ; or "able to be pope") 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 ...
'' candidates were
Giovanni Battista Montini
Pope Paul VI ( la, Paulus VI; it, Paolo VI; born Giovanni Battista Enrico Antonio Maria Montini, ; 26 September 18976 August 1978) was head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 21 June 1963 to his death in Augus ...
of
Milan
Milan ( , , Lombard: ; it, Milano ) is a city in northern Italy, capital of Lombardy, and the second-most populous city proper in Italy after Rome. The city proper has a population of about 1.4 million, while its metropolitan city h ...
, who had not been a cardinal at the time of the previous conclave, and was supportive of reforms proposed at the Council;
Giacomo Lercaro
Giacomo Lercaro (28 October 1891 – 18 October 1976) was an Italian cardinal of the Roman Catholic Church who served as Archbishop of Ravenna from 1947 to 1952, and Archbishop of Bologna from 1952 to 1968. Pope Pius XII made him a cardinal ...
of
Bologna
Bologna (, , ; egl, label= Emilian, Bulåggna ; lat, Bononia) is the capital and largest city of the Emilia-Romagna region in Northern Italy. It is the seventh most populous city in Italy with about 400,000 inhabitants and 150 different nat ...
, who was considered a liberal, close to John XXIII;
[ and ]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 considere ...
of Genoa
Genoa ( ; it, Genova ; lij, Zêna ). is the capital of the Italian region of Liguria and the List of cities in Italy, sixth-largest city in Italy. In 2015, 594,733 people lived within the city's administrative limits. As of the 2011 Italian ce ...
, ''papabile
''Papabile'' (, also , ; ; or "able to be pope") 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 ...
'' in 1958 and critical of these reforms. Cardinal Gregorio Pietro Agagianian
Gregorio Pietro XV Agagianian (; anglicized: ''Gregory Peter''; Western hy, Գրիգոր Պետրոս ԺԵ. Աղաճանեան, ''Krikor Bedros ŽĒ. Aghajanian''; born Ghazaros Aghajanian, 15 September 1895 – 16 May 1971) was an Armen ...
, the former Armenian Catholic Patriarch of Cilicia
This is a list of the Armenian Catholic catholicos patriarchs of Cilicia, officially the Catholicos Patriarch of Cilicia of Armenian Catholics. The Armenian Catholic Patriarchate of Cilicia was established in 1740 following a schism within the A ...
was also thought to be ''papabile''. Reportedly, John XXIII had sent oblique signals indicating that he thought Montini would make a fine pope.
Participants
The 1963 papal conclave
A papal conclave is a gathering of the College of Cardinals convened to elect a Bishops in the Catholic Church, bishop of Rome, also known as the pope. Catholics consider the pope to be the Apostolic succession, apostolic successor of Saint ...
, which met from 19 to 21 June, at 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 name ...
in Vatican City, was the largest ever assembled. There were 82 cardinal electors eligible to participate. The only two who did not were Cardinal József Mindszenty
József Mindszenty (; 29 March 18926 May 1975) was a Hungarian cardinal of the Catholic Church who served as Archbishop of Esztergom and leader of the Catholic Church in Hungary from 1945 to 1973. According to the ''Encyclopædia Britannica'', ...
, who refused to leave the U.S. Legation in Budapest
Budapest (, ; ) is the capital and most populous city of Hungary. It is the ninth-largest city in the European Union by population within city limits and the second-largest city on the Danube river; the city has an estimated population ...
where he had lived since 1956 unless the Hungarian government met his demands for religious freedom in Hungary, and Cardinal Carlos María de la Torre
Carlos María Javier de la Torre y Nieto (15 November 1873, Quito, Ecuador – 31 July 1968, Quito, Ecuador) was an Ecuadorian cardinal of the Roman Catholic Church. Archbishop of Quito, he was elevated to the cardinalate in 1953 by Pope ...
of Quito, Ecuador, who was 89 years old and could not make the journey because he had suffered a stroke the previous December and was bedridden with thrombosis.[ Of the eighty cardinals who did participate, eight had been elevated by ]Pope Pius XI
Pope Pius XI ( it, Pio XI), born Ambrogio Damiano Achille Ratti (; 31 May 1857 – 10 February 1939), was head of the Catholic Church from 6 February 1922 to his death in February 1939. He was the first sovereign of Vatican City fro ...
, twenty-seven by Pius XII, and the other 45 by John XXIII. Each cardinal elector was allowed one aide. They came from 29 countries, compared to 51 from 21 countries in the conclave of 1958 and 59 from 16 countries in 1939. The Italians were outnumbered 51 to 29.
Balloting
Under the latest rules, election required the votes of two-thirds of those voting, in this case 54.[ No ballots were taken on the first day, then two each morning and two each afternoon.] Because there had been confusion at the last conclave in 1958 over the color of the smoke used to indicate whether a pope had been elected, the smoke would be supplemented with electric lights.[
The results of the first four ballots were signaled with black smoke on 20 June at 11:54am and 5:47 pm. Each time, the smoke appeared white at first.
Some reform-minded cardinals initially voted for ]Leo Joseph Suenens
Leo Jozef Suenens ( ) (16 July 1904 – 6 May 1996) was a Belgian prelate of the Roman Catholic Church. He served as Archbishop of Mechelen-Brussels from 1961 to 1979, and was elevated to the cardinalate in 1962.
Suenens was a leading voice at ...
of Mechelen-Brussels and 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 ...
of Vienna
en, Viennese
, iso_code = AT-9
, registration_plate = W
, postal_code_type = Postal code
, postal_code =
, timezone = CET
, utc_offset = +1
, timezone_DST ...
to make the point that the pope does not have to be Italian.[ Other reports said that conservative cardinals attempted to block Montini's election in the early balloting. Due to the apparent deadlock, Cardinal Montini proposed to withdraw himself from being considered but was silenced by ]Giovanni Urbani
Giovanni Urbani (26 March 1900 – 17 September 1969) was an Italian cardinal of the Roman Catholic Church. He served as Patriarch of Venice from 1958 until his death, and was elevated to the cardinalate in 1958. He was considered to be ov ...
the Patriarch of Venice.[Pham, John-Peter. "Heirs of the Fisherman: Behind the Scenes of Papal Death and Succession". Oxford University Press, 2007, pp. 123–4] Another cardinal, Gustavo Testa
Gustavo Testa (28 July 1886 – 28 February 1969) was an Italian prelate of the Catholic Church, who was made a cardinal in 1959. He spent his career in the Roman Curia. He entered the diplomatic service of the Holy See in 1920 and held several ...
, an old friend of John XXIII, lost his temper in the Chapel and demanded that the intransigents stop impeding Montini's path.
By the fourth ballot on 20 June, according to ''Time'' Magazine, Montini needed only four additional votes to obtain the required number of votes. He was elected on the fifth ballot on the morning of 21 June. When asked by Eugène Tisserant
Eugène-Gabriel-Gervais-Laurent Tisserant (; 24 March 1884 – 21 February 1972) was a French people, French prelate and Cardinal (Catholic Church), cardinal of the Catholic Church. Elevated to the cardinalate in 1936, Tisserant was a prominent ...
if he accepted his election, Montini replied, ''Accepto, in nomine Domini'' ("I accept, in the name of the Lord") and chose to be known as Pope Paul VI
Pope Paul VI ( la, Paulus VI; it, Paolo VI; born Giovanni Battista Enrico Antonio Maria Montini, ; 26 September 18976 August 1978) was head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City, Vatican City State from 21 June 1963 to his ...
.
At 11:22 am, white smoke rose from the chimney of the Sistine Chapel, signifying the election of a new pope. Alfredo Ottaviani
Alfredo Ottaviani (29 October 1890 – 3 August 1979) was an Italian cardinal of the Catholic Church. Pope Pius XII named him cardinal in 1953. He served as secretary of the Holy Office in the Roman Curia from 1959 to 1966 when that dicastery ...
, in his capacity as the senior Cardinal Deacon, announced Montini's election in 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 ...
; before Ottaviani had even finished saying Montini's name, the crowd beneath the balcony of St. Peter's Basilica
The Papal Basilica of Saint Peter in the Vatican ( it, Basilica Papale di San Pietro in Vaticano), or simply Saint Peter's Basilica ( la, Basilica Sancti Petri), is a church built in the Renaissance style located in Vatican City, the papal e ...
erupted into applause.
Pope Paul VI shortly afterwards appeared on the balcony to give his first blessing. On this occasion, Paul VI chose not to give the traditional ''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 but instead imparted the shorter episcopal blessing The episcopal or pontifical blessing is a blessing imparted by a bishop, especially if using a formula given in official liturgical books.
The term is sometimes used of such a formula, rather than of an actual blessing.
Roman Catholic Church
T ...
as his first Apostolic Blessing The apostolic blessing or papal blessing is a blessing imparted by the pope, either directly or by delegation through others. Bishops are empowered to grant it three times a year and any priest can do so for the dying.
The apostolic blessing is not ...
.
See also
Cardinal electors for the papal conclave, 1963
References
;Additional sources
*
{{Subject bar , portal1= Catholicism , portal2= Christianity , portal3= Vatican City , b=y, b-search=Biblical Studies/Christianity/Roman Catholicism/History
, commons=y, commons-search=Papal conclave
, n=y, n-search=Roman Catholic Church
, q=y, q-search=Popes
, s=y, s-search=Popes
, v=y, v-search=Christian History
, wikt=y, wikt-search=Pope
, d=y
1963 in Vatican City
1963 elections in Europe
1963
Events January
* January 1 – Bogle–Chandler case: Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation scientist Dr. Gilbert Bogle and Mrs. Margaret Chandler are found dead (presumed poisoned), in bushland near the Lane Cov ...
20th-century Catholicism
1963 in Christianity
June 1963 events
Political history of Vatican City