Papal conclave, 1878

Unique circumstances

The unique circumstances were

Questions facing the cardinals

When the cardinals assembled, they faced a dilemma. Should they choose a pope who would continue to espouse Pius IX's reactionary religious and political views, and would continue to refuse to accept Italy's Law of Guarantees guaranteeing the pope religious liberty in the Kingdom 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

Though not explicitly spelt out, another issue was raised by the length of Pope Pius' reign. Should they elect another young pope who might reign for decades, or should they go for an older man and so a shorter reign?

Conclave

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. However the Camerlengo, Gioachino Pecci, advocated otherwise, and an initial vote among cardinals to move to Spain was overturned in a later vote. The conclave finally assembled in the Sistine Chapel in the Vatican on 18 February 1878.

Going into the conclave, Cardinal Pecci was the one candidate favored to be elected in part because many of the cardinals who headed to Rome had already decided to elect him. In addition to Pecci's competent administration as Camerlengo during the sede vacante period up to the conclave, Pecci was seen as the opposite of Pope Pius IX in terms of manner and temperament and also had a successful diplomatic career prior to being Archbishop of Perugia. Pecci's election was also facilitated in that the candidate favored by the conservatives Alessandro Franchi urged his supporters to switch their support to the Camerlengo.

Unusually for conclaves, the voting patterns became public.

Ballot 1 (morning 19 Feb)

On the first ballot, held on the morning of the 19 February the votes were

Ballot 2 (afternoon 19 Feb)

Ballot 3 (morning 20 February)

Result, implications, and aftermath

The election of Cardinal Pecci, who took the regnal name of Pope Leo 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 locking of Jews into ghettos and treatment of minorities had been condemned by world leaders such as William Ewart Gladstone), Leo was seen as an "internationalist" who could earn back the Vatican some international respect.

Pope Leo came to be seen as embodying a dramatic difference to the papacy of Pope Pius. In one area however they were similar. Though always seemingly in poor health and delicate condition, he reigned for an unexpected 25 years, becoming the third longest-reigning pope in history (until his record was surpassed by Pope John Paul II on 14 March 2004). Far from being a short reigned pope, Leo surprised all by living to the age of 93, dying 20 July 1903, making him the oldest Pope at the time of his passing.

Conclave factfile

Trivia

Given that the 1878 conclave was preceded by the longest papal reign in history and ushered in the third longest reign in history, it is worth noting the four participating cardinals for whom this was not the only conclave in which they participated:

Also participated in 1846 conclave

Also participated in 1903 conclave