Author Topic: Conclave trivia: the good, the bad, and the funny (Read 3745 times)

islander · « **on:** March 12, 2013, 03:06:07 PM »

Longest conclave

In 1268, a conclave began that lasted nearly three years - 33 months, to be exact.

Pope Gregory X was elected pope, but not before residents of Viterbo, north of Rome, tore the roof off the building where the cardinals were staying and restricted their meals to bread and water to make them hurry up.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/

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islander · « **Reply #1 on:** March 12, 2013, 04:59:39 PM »

This is the original building - still standing today, even after WWII bombing. This was the conclave where the rations of the cardinals were reduced to bread and water while the ceiling began to be removed.

The papal election from November 1268 to September 1, 1271, following the death of Pope Clement IV, was the longest papal election in the history of the Catholic Church. This was due primarily to political infighting between the cardinals. The election of Teobaldo Visconti as Pope Gregory X was the first example of a papal election by "Compromise." The election was effected by a Committee of six cardinals agreed to by the other remaining ten. The election occurred more than a year after the magistrates of Viterbo locked the cardinals in, reduced their rations to bread and water, and legendarily removed the roof of the Palazzo dei Papi di Viterbo.

As a result of the length of the election, during which three of the twenty cardinal-electors died and one resigned, Gregory X promulgated the apostolic constitution, Ubi periculum, on July 7, 1274 (or 16), during the Second Council of Lyon, establishing the papal conclave, whose rules were based on the tactics employed against the cardinals in Viterbo. The election itself is sometimes viewed as the first conclave. (wikipedia)

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islander · « **Reply #2 on:** March 12, 2013, 05:02:02 PM »

Hoping to avoid a repeat, Gregory decreed in 1274 that cardinals would only get one meal a day if the conclave stretched beyond three days, and served bread, water and wine if it went beyond eight.

While the meals served these days at the Vatican's hotel are by no means gourmet, the cardinals won't go hungry - no matter how long they take picking a pope.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/

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islander · « **Reply #3 on:** March 12, 2013, 05:08:57 PM »

Shortest conclave

Before 1274, there were times when a pope was elected the same day as the death of his predecessor. After that, however, the church decided to wait at least 10 days before the first vote; later that was stretched to 15 days to give all cardinals time to get to Rome.

The quickest conclave observing the 10-day wait rule appears to have been the 1503 election of Julius II, who was elected in just a few hours, according to Vatican historian Ambrogio Piazzoni.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/

Pope Julius II (5 December 1443 â€“ 21 February 1513), nicknamed "The Fearsome Pope" (Il Papa Terribile) and "The Warrior Pope" (Il Papa Guerriero), born Giuliano della Rovere, was Pope from 1503 to 1513. His papacy was marked by an active foreign policy, ambitious building projects, and patronage for the arts - he commissioned the destruction and rebuilding of St. Peter's Basilica, plus Michelangelo's decoration of the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel. (wikipedia)

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islander · « **Reply #4 on:** March 12, 2013, 05:21:24 PM »

Youngest and oldest Popes elected

Pope John XII was just 18 when he was elected in 955. The oldest popes were Pope Celestine III (elected in 1191) and Celestine V (elected in 1294) who were both nearly 85.

Benedict XVI was 78 when he was elected in 2005.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/

Pope John XII, elected 955
youngest pope ever elected

Pope Celestine III, elected 1191
and

Pope Celestine V, elected 1294
oldest popes ever elected

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islander · « **Reply #5 on:** March 12, 2013, 05:32:19 PM »

Other conclave trivia

The last time a pope was elected who wasn't a cardinal was Urban VI in 1378 - he was a monk and archbishop of Bari.

Pope Urban VI

Pope Pius XII, who was pope during World War II, left a document informing the College of Cardinals that they should hold a conclave and elect a new pope if he were taken prisoner.

Pope Pius XII

While the Italians have had a stranglehold on the papacy over centuries, there have been many exceptions aside from John Paul II (Polish in 1978) and Benedict XVI (German in 2005). Alexander VI, elected in 1492, was Spanish; Gregory III, elected in 731, was Syrian; Adrian VI, elected in 1522, was from the Netherlands.

Source: AP

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/

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islander · « **Reply #6 on:** March 12, 2013, 05:49:52 PM »

the non-italian popes (and year when elected):

Benedict XVI (German, 2005)

John Paul II (Polish, 1978)

Adrian VI (Dutch, 1522)

Alexander VI (Spanish, 1492)

Gregory III (Syrian, 731)

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islander · « **Reply #7 on:** March 12, 2013, 06:30:48 PM »

more papal conclave trivia

Cardinals picking a pope in a conclave held in the Sistine Chapel is actually a (relatively) recent development. In the early centuries of the church, the pope -- who is the Bishop of Rome -- was elected in various ways, though usually by the clergy of the diocese, a choice that was then affirmed (or rejected) by the people.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/

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islander · « **Reply #8 on:** March 12, 2013, 06:47:09 PM »

In 236 A.D., a man named Fabian -- not even a candidate -- was acclaimed pope after a dove, the symbol of the Holy Spirit, landed on his shoulder.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/

Pope St. Fabian

Fabian was a layman who became pope in 236, chosen, according to Eusebius, because a dove landed on his head when the community gathered for the election. He was a good administrator. He divided Rome into seven areas each served by a deacon.

He organised building works in the cemeteries (Catacombs) and brought back the bodies of Saints Pontian and Hippolytus from Sardinia. His fourteen years as pope seems to have been mostly a period of peace, but when the persecution of Decius took place he was one of its first victims. His epitaph in the catacomb of St. Callistus reads: "Fabian, bishop, martyr." (http://j2.catholicireland.net/)

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islander · « **Reply #9 on:** March 12, 2013, 06:50:20 PM »

For several centuries, the Roman aristocracy and secular rulers often controlled the process. The College of Cardinals wasn't given the principal right to elect the pope until 1059.

In 1179, the College of Cardinals was given the exclusive right to choose a new pope, and a two-thirds majority was set as the threshold for a winning vote (later changed to two-thirds plus one).

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/

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islander · « **Reply #10 on:** March 12, 2013, 06:55:04 PM »

Until modern times, a pope could also be elected by a compromise among the cardinals or by "acclamation," which means that all of the cardinals would have to unanimously declare their support for a single candidate. Now a candidate must win a secret ballot, no matter how long it takes.

At times there have been as few as a dozen cardinals voting in a conclave. Pope Sixtus V (1585-1590) set the top number at 70, and that was not changed until the 20th century when the ceiling was gradually raised to 120, though John Paul II often surpassed that limit.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/

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islander · « **Reply #11 on:** March 12, 2013, 06:59:39 PM »

In 1970, Pope Paul VI ruled that cardinals who were more than 80 years old when a pope died could not take part in a conclave; there are a total of 207 living cardinals, but 90 of them are more than 80 and cannot vote. Two others have said they cannot take part, leaving 115 electors.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/

Pope Paul VI

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islander · « **Reply #12 on:** March 12, 2013, 10:08:48 PM »

After the Viterbo debacle, Pope Gregory X in 1274 established what we know today as the conclave (Latin for "with a key"), in which the cardinals are essentially locked inside a room -- and in olden times deprived of meals -- until they settle on a successor.

In modern times, conclaves usually last less than a week, and often no more than a day or two. The last long conclave was in 1740 and lasted six months.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/

Pope Benedict XIV was elected in the conclave of 1740

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islander · « **Reply #13 on:** March 12, 2013, 11:24:32 PM »

The papal conclave, 1799â€“1800 was held in San Giorgio Monastery in Venice, the last papal election site outside of Rome. (wikipedia)

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islander · « **Reply #14 on:** March 12, 2013, 11:58:57 PM »

Ballots have been burned since the 1417 conclave, but the practice of using white smoke -- created by adding dry straw to the ballots, or, more recently, chemicals -- to signal the election of a pope was first recorded in 1914. Before that, church bells were rung and cannons fired to signal the election of a pope.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/

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Author Topic: Conclave trivia: the good, the bad, and the funny (Read 3745 times)

islander

Conclave trivia: the good, the bad, and the funny

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Re: Conclave trivia: the good, the bad, and the funny

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Re: Conclave trivia: the good, the bad, and the funny

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Re: Conclave trivia: the good, the bad, and the funny

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Re: Conclave trivia: the good, the bad, and the funny

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Re: Conclave trivia: the good, the bad, and the funny

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Re: Conclave trivia: the good, the bad, and the funny

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Re: Conclave trivia: the good, the bad, and the funny

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Re: Conclave trivia: the good, the bad, and the funny

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Re: Conclave trivia: the good, the bad, and the funny

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Re: Conclave trivia: the good, the bad, and the funny

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