Papal conclave, August 1978

Papal conclave
August 1978

Coat of arms during the vacancy of the Holy See
Dates and location
25 August 1978 – 26 August 1978
Sistine Chapel, Apostolic Palace,
Vatican City
Key officials
Dean Carlo Confalonieri
Sub-Dean Paolo Marella
Camerlengo Jean-Marie Villot
Protopriest Josef Frings
Protodeacon Pericle Felici
Election
Ballots 4
Elected Pope
Albino Luciani
(Name taken: John Paul I)

The Papal conclave of August 1978, the first of the two conclaves held in the year 1978, was convoked after the death of Pope Paul VI on 6 August 1978 at Castel Gandolfo. After the cardinal electors assembled in Rome, they elected Cardinal Albino Luciani, then Patriarch of Venice, as the new pope after four ballots. He accepted the election and took the pontifical name of John Paul I.

Proceedings

The conclave was held for two days from 25 August 1978 to 26 August 1978 at the Sistine Chapel in the Vatican. Proceedings on 25 August 1978 included a Mass celebrated at St. Peter's Basilica by the cardinal electors for divine guidance in their task to elect Pope Paul's successor. Six hours later, the cardinals processed into the Sistine Chapel whilst the chapel choir sang the hymn Veni Creator Spiritus. Monsignor Virgilio Noè, the Papal Master of Ceremonies, gave the traditional command of Extra omnes ("Everybody out!"), the doors were locked, and then the actual conclave began.

Papabili and Course of balloting

Day Ballot Result
1 1 No pope elected
2 2
3
4 Pope elected

Because the conclave took place during the summer and no windows were permitted to be open in the chapel, the heat was almost unbearable. It was so hot even outside the conclave that the American cardinal John Cody took three showers in one night to cool himself. Up to this point, the conclave of August 1978 was the largest ever assembled. Thus, to accommodate the electors, the traditional canopied thrones were replaced with twelve long tables. Karol Wojtyła, Aloísio Lorscheider, and Bernardin Gantin allegedly served as scrutineers during the balloting.

The newly elected Pope John Paul I (on left), with Monsignor Virgilio Noè, then Papal Master of Ceremonies.

The cardinals electors were looking not for a Curial bureaucrat, but rather a warm, pastoral figure along the lines of Pope John XXIII. They also wanted an Italian, given the influential papal role in Italian politics. Among the papabili, or likely candidates to be elected pope, were Giuseppe Siri of Genoa, Corrado Ursi of Naples, and Giovanni Benelli of Florence. However, Benelli actually favoured Albino Luciani, the Patriarch of Venice, who was eventually elected as a candidate of compromise after four ballots; during the third ballot, Johannes Willebrands and António Ribeiro, who sat on either side of the Venetian patriarch, whispered words of encouragement to him as he continued to receive more votes. Jaime Sin told Luciani "You will be the new pope".[1] Luciani had previously said to his secretary that he would decline the papacy if elected,[2] however after Jean-Marie Villot officially asked Luciani whether he accepted his election he humbly exclaimed, "May God forgive you for what you have done," and accepted his election. In honor of his two immediate predecessors, he took John Paul I as his regnal name. After the election when Cardinal Sin paid him homage, the new pope said: "You were a prophet, but my reign will be a short one".[1]

On 26 August 1978 at 6:24 p.m. local time (4:24 p.m. UTC), the first signs of smoke—whose color signifies the success or failure of an election—from the chimney of the Sistine Chapel appeared. However, it was unclear which color the smoke was for over an hour; some of the cardinals had personally deposited their notes and tally sheets in the stove, causing black smoke after white had already appeared. Pericle Felici, as the ranking Cardinal Deacon, then stepped onto the balcony of St. Peter's Basilica and delivered the Habemus Papam announcement in Latin, declaring Luciani's election.


Anuntio vobis gaudium magnum:
Habemus Papam;
Eminentissimum ac Reverendissimum Dominum,
Dominum Albinum Sanctæ Romanæ Ecclesiæ Cardinalem Luciani
Qui sibi nomen imposuit Ioannis Pauli primi[1]

  1. ^ John Paul I Election and First Blessing. YouTube. Accessed on March 16, 2012.

Which, translated into English, can be read as follows:

<blockquote xml:lang="la" lang="la>


I announce to you a great joy:
We have a Pope!
The Most Eminent and Most Reverend Lord,
Lord Albino Cardinal of the Holy Roman Church Luciani
Who take himself to the name John Paul I

John Paul then too appeared on the balcony; shortly after his withdrawal, the crowd's applause remained so loud that he was compelled to appear again.

This conclave was unusual in the fact that the future Popes John Paul II and Benedict XVI were also present. This made it the first conclave since 1721 in which three future popes participated, and the first since 1829 in which there had been more than one.

Eligibility to vote and alleged results

Several authors have provided what they claim to be the vote totals at the conclave. Although this evidence must be viewed as questionable, it cannot be dismissed out of hand. Details of a conclave cannot be revealed by those involved under pain of excommunication, but this was the first conclave which excluded cardinals over the age of 80 (their ineligibility having been decreed by Paul VI in 1970). Cardinals over 80 are still allowed to participate in the preparatory meetings, but during the 1978 conclaves, they were not required to take the same oath of secrecy as the electors. It is possible that one of these elderly cardinals might have revealed things he learned, though after the preparatory meetings were over the superannuated cardinals never entered the conclave itself. Also, cardinals under 80 were not required to destroy all notes they took during the conclave.

Under the rules introduced for the 2005 conclave, cardinals over 80 were required to take the same oath of secrecy if they wanted to participate in the preparatory meetings. All cardinal electors were required to surrender any notes they might have taken in order to be burned along with ballots.

Yallop tally

As presented by David Yallop in In God's Name (ISBN 0-553-05073-7), a book which claims that John Paul I was murdered:

Burkle-Young tally

As presented by Francis A. Burkle-Young in Passing the Keys (ISBN 1-56833-130-4):

Thomas-Witts tally

As presented by Gordon Thomas and Max Morgan-Witts in PONTIFF (ISBN 0-451-12951-2):

David Allen White's biography of the rebel French traditionalist Archbishop Marcel Lefebvre reports that Lefebvre was alleged to have received a small number of votes during the balloting (variously reported as three or "several"), causing some consternation among the cardinals. Lefebvre was not a cardinal, and casting a vote for a non-cardinal in a papal election is highly unusual, though not forbidden by Canon law (being ordained Bishop is a requirement to be created Cardinal (Can. 351 §1)[3] but not to be elected Pope (Can. 332 §1)[4]).

Cardinals over 80 in 1978 Papal conclaves

This is a list of Roman Catholic cardinals over the age of 80 as of the death of Pope Paul VI on 6 August 1978. As such, they were ineligible to vote in the Papal conclave beginning on 25 August 1978 to elect Paul's successor according to the motu proprio Ingravescentem aetatem, of 21 November 1970 and the apostolic constitution Romano Pontifici Eligendo of 1 October 1975.

Because Pope John Paul I died after only thirty-three days in office without creating any cardinals, and none of the cardinals who were eligible to vote turned eighty between John Paul I's election and the beginning of the second conclave on 14 October 1978 that elected Pope John Paul II, the lists of over-age cardinals for the two 1978 conclaves are identical.

The cardinals ineligible to participate in the two 1978 conclaves because they were at least eighty years old are listed below, arranged by date of promotion to the cardinalate.

Cardinals elevated by Pope Pius XII

Cardinals elevated by Pope John XXIII

Cardinals elevated by Pope Paul VI

See also

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 "Modern Heroes of the Church - Leo Knowles". Google Books. Retrieved 15 February 2014.
  2. ↑ Allen, John L. Jr. (2 November 2012). ncronline.org "Debunking four myths about John Paul I, the 'Smiling Pope'". National Catholic Reporter.
  3. ↑ "Code of Canon Law: text - IntraText CT". Intratext.com. 2007-05-04. Retrieved 2013-08-16.
  4. ↑ "Code of Canon Law: text - IntraText CT". Intratext.com. 2007-05-04. Retrieved 2013-08-16.

External links

PAPAL CONCLAVE, AUGUST 1978
Duration 2 days
Number of ballots 4
Electors 111
Africa 13
Latin America 19
North America 11
Asia 8
Europe 56
Oceania 4
Italians 26
DECEASED POPE PAUL VI (1963–1978)
NEW POPE JOHN PAUL I (1978)