Papal conclave, 1922
Encyclopedia
After a reign of just eight years, Pope Benedict XV
died on 22 January 1922 of pneumonia
. At his death there were 61 members of the College of Cardinals
. However, later that same day, Enrique Almaraz y Santos, the Archbishop of Toledo, died, leaving a college of 60 cardinals
to elect Pope Benedict's successor.
53 of the 60 cardinals
assembled in the Sistine Chapel
on 2 February. Cardinals José María Martín de Herrera y de la Iglesia, Giuseppe Prisco
and Lev Skrbenský z Hříště
did not attend for reasons of health, whilst the four non-European cardinals - William Henry O'Connell
of Boston, Denis Dougherty of Philadelphia, Louis-Nazaire Bégin of Québec City
and Joaquim Arcoverde de Albuquerque Cavalcanti
of São Sebastião do Rio de Janeiro - did not arrive in time and missed the conclave. Because all these four except Cavalcanti did aim to make the journey to Rome, Pius XI was to change the rules so that cardinals from distant locations had a better chance of participating in the conclave by extending the time between the death of a Pope and the election of his successor.
and liberals
, from the conservative Pope Gregory XVI
in 1831 to the (initially) liberal Pope Pius IX
. By the time of his death in 1878 Pius IX had become a reactionary
conservative. He however was succeeded by the liberal Pope Leo XIII
, who on his death was succeeded by the populist conservative Pope Pius X
. In 1914 the liberal Benedict XV, a protégé of the cardinal vetoed as pope in 1903, Mariano Rampolla, was elected. The question many asked was: from which side would the new pope come this time?
.
In other eras Pius XI would count as a major pope. However he had the misfortune in the twentieth century of competing for historic profile with a number of high profile popes: Pius X, who was canonised; Pope Pius XII
, the controversial pope during the Second World War; the acclaimed Pope John XXIII
(later declared 'Blessed'), the theologically controversial Pope Paul VI
, Pope John Paul I
, famous simply for the shortness of his reign
(33 days) and for controversies over his death; and Pope John Paul II
, who, ruling the Church for over a generation, became something of an icon for the Papacy. In that context Pope Pius XI has tended to be overlooked and overshadowed, joining his predecessor Benedict XV as one of the twentieth century's "forgotten popes". Pius XI died in 1939, on the eve of the Second World War.
Pope Benedict XV
Pope Benedict XV , born Giacomo Paolo Giovanni Battista della Chiesa, reigned as Pope from 3 September 1914 to 22 January 1922...
died on 22 January 1922 of pneumonia
Pneumonia
Pneumonia is an inflammatory condition of the lung—especially affecting the microscopic air sacs —associated with fever, chest symptoms, and a lack of air space on a chest X-ray. Pneumonia is typically caused by an infection but there are a number of other causes...
. At his death there were 61 members of the College of Cardinals
College of Cardinals
The College of Cardinals is the body of all cardinals of the Catholic Church.A function of the college is to advise the pope about church matters when he summons them to an ordinary consistory. It also convenes on the death or abdication of a pope as a papal conclave to elect a successor...
. However, later that same day, Enrique Almaraz y Santos, the Archbishop of Toledo, died, leaving a college of 60 cardinals
Cardinal (Catholicism)
A cardinal is a senior ecclesiastical official, usually an ordained bishop, and ecclesiastical prince of the Catholic Church. They are collectively known as the College of Cardinals, which as a body elects a new pope. The duties of the cardinals include attending the meetings of the College and...
to elect Pope Benedict's successor.
53 of the 60 cardinals
Cardinal electors in Papal conclave, 1922
The following were the cardinal electors in the 1922 papal conclave. Arranged by region , and within each alphabetically...
assembled in the Sistine Chapel
Sistine Chapel
Sistine Chapel is the best-known chapel in the Apostolic Palace, the official residence of the Pope in Vatican City. It is famous for its architecture and its decoration that was frescoed throughout by Renaissance artists including Michelangelo, Sandro Botticelli, Pietro Perugino, Pinturicchio...
on 2 February. Cardinals José María Martín de Herrera y de la Iglesia, Giuseppe Prisco
Giuseppe Prisco
Giuseppe Antonio Ermenegildo Prisco was an Italian Cardinal of the Roman Catholic Church, who served as Archbishop of Naples.-Biography:Prisco was born in Boscotrecase, near Naples...
and Lev Skrbenský z Hříště
Lev Skrbenský z Hríšte
Lev Skrbenský z Hříště, , also spelt Skrebensky was a prominent Cardinal in the Catholic Church during the early twentieth century....
did not attend for reasons of health, whilst the four non-European cardinals - William Henry O'Connell
William Henry O'Connell
William Henry O'Connell was an American cardinal of the Roman Catholic Church. He served as Archbishop of Boston from 1907 until his death, and was elevated to the cardinalate in 1911.-Early life:...
of Boston, Denis Dougherty of Philadelphia, Louis-Nazaire Bégin of Québec City
Quebec City
Quebec , also Québec, Quebec City or Québec City is the capital of the Canadian province of Quebec and is located within the Capitale-Nationale region. It is the second most populous city in Quebec after Montreal, which is about to the southwest...
and Joaquim Arcoverde de Albuquerque Cavalcanti
Joaquim Arcoverde de Albuquerque Cavalcanti
Joaquim Arcoverde de Albuquerque Cavalcanti was the first Cardinal to be born in Latin America and the first cardinal from any South American diocese Joaquim Arcoverde de Albuquerque Cavalcanti (January 17, 1850, Cimbres, Pernambuco, Brazil – April 18, 1930, Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil)...
of São Sebastião do Rio de Janeiro - did not arrive in time and missed the conclave. Because all these four except Cavalcanti did aim to make the journey to Rome, Pius XI was to change the rules so that cardinals from distant locations had a better chance of participating in the conclave by extending the time between the death of a Pope and the election of his successor.
 |
|
| Dates | February 2-February 6, 1922 |
| Location | Sistine Chapel Sistine Chapel Sistine Chapel is the best-known chapel in the Apostolic Palace, the official residence of the Pope in Vatican City. It is famous for its architecture and its decoration that was frescoed throughout by Renaissance artists including Michelangelo, Sandro Botticelli, Pietro Perugino, Pinturicchio... , Vatican City's Vatican City Vatican City , or Vatican City State, in Italian officially Stato della Città del Vaticano , which translates literally as State of the City of the Vatican, is a landlocked sovereign city-state whose territory consists of a walled enclave within the city of Rome, Italy. It has an area of... Apostolic Palace Apostolic Palace The Apostolic Palace is the official residence of the Pope, which is located in Vatican City. It is also known as the Sacred Palace, the Papal Palace and the Palace of the Vatican... , Rome Rome Rome is the capital of Italy and the country's largest and most populated city and comune, with over 2.7 million residents in . The city is located in the central-western portion of the Italian Peninsula, on the Tiber River within the Lazio region of Italy.Rome's history spans two and a half... , Italy Italy Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and... |
| Dean | Vincenzo Vannutelli (Italy Italy Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and... ) |
| Electors | 60 |
| Present | 53 |
| Absent | 7 |
| Ballots | 14 |
| Elected Pope | Achille Ratti Pope Pius XI Pope Pius XI , born Ambrogio Damiano Achille Ratti, was Pope from 6 February 1922, and sovereign of Vatican City from its creation as an independent state on 11 February 1929 until his death on 10 February 1939... (Pius XI) |
Context
The previous five conclaves had produced a constant tic-tacing between conservativesConservatism
Conservatism is a political and social philosophy that promotes the maintenance of traditional institutions and supports, at the most, minimal and gradual change in society. Some conservatives seek to preserve things as they are, emphasizing stability and continuity, while others oppose modernism...
and liberals
Liberalism
Liberalism is the belief in the importance of liberty and equal rights. Liberals espouse a wide array of views depending on their understanding of these principles, but generally, liberals support ideas such as constitutionalism, liberal democracy, free and fair elections, human rights,...
, from the conservative Pope Gregory XVI
Pope Gregory XVI
Pope Gregory XVI , born Bartolomeo Alberto Cappellari, named Mauro as a member of the religious order of the Camaldolese, was Pope of the Catholic Church from 1831 to 1846...
in 1831 to the (initially) liberal Pope Pius IX
Pope Pius IX
Blessed Pope Pius IX , born Giovanni Maria Mastai-Ferretti, was the longest-reigning elected Pope in the history of the Catholic Church, serving from 16 June 1846 until his death, a period of nearly 32 years. During his pontificate, he convened the First Vatican Council in 1869, which decreed papal...
. By the time of his death in 1878 Pius IX had become a reactionary
Reactionary
The term reactionary refers to viewpoints that seek to return to a previous state in a society. The term is meant to describe one end of a political spectrum whose opposite pole is "radical". While it has not been generally considered a term of praise it has been adopted as a self-description by...
conservative. He however was succeeded by the liberal Pope Leo XIII
Pope Leo XIII
Pope Leo XIII , born Vincenzo Gioacchino Raffaele Luigi Pecci to an Italian comital family, was the 256th Pope of the Roman Catholic Church, reigning from 1878 to 1903...
, who on his death was succeeded by the populist conservative Pope Pius X
Pope Pius X
Pope Saint Pius X , born Giuseppe Melchiorre Sarto, was the 257th Pope of the Catholic Church, serving from 1903 to 1914. He was the first pope since Pope Pius V to be canonized. Pius X rejected modernist interpretations of Catholic doctrine, promoting traditional devotional practices and orthodox...
. In 1914 the liberal Benedict XV, a protégé of the cardinal vetoed as pope in 1903, Mariano Rampolla, was elected. The question many asked was: from which side would the new pope come this time?
Conclave - election of the Archbishop of Milan
The 1922 conclave was the most divided conclave in many years. While two of the previous three conclaves had lasted three days or less, the 1922 conclave lasted for five days. It took fourteen ballots for Achille Ratti, the Archbishop of Milan, to reach the two-thirds majority needed for election, and was subsequently installed as Pope Pius XIPope Pius XI
Pope Pius XI , born Ambrogio Damiano Achille Ratti, was Pope from 6 February 1922, and sovereign of Vatican City from its creation as an independent state on 11 February 1929 until his death on 10 February 1939...
.
Aftermath
Ratti himself was less easy to categorise in terms of the conservative/liberal divide than most of his immediate predecessors. Most regarded him as a moderate conservative, to the right of Pope Benedict but to the left of Popes Gregory XVI, Pius IX (at the end of his reign) and Pius X. He was also strikingly different from his predecessor. Whereas Benedict was an aristocratic diplomat in poor health, Ratti was an unusual combination of a scholar, librarian, diplomat and talented mounted climber.In other eras Pius XI would count as a major pope. However he had the misfortune in the twentieth century of competing for historic profile with a number of high profile popes: Pius X, who was canonised; Pope Pius XII
Pope Pius XII
The Venerable Pope Pius XII , born Eugenio Maria Giuseppe Giovanni Pacelli , reigned as Pope, head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of Vatican City State, from 2 March 1939 until his death in 1958....
, the controversial pope during the Second World War; the acclaimed Pope John XXIII
Pope John XXIII
-Papal election:Following the death of Pope Pius XII in 1958, Roncalli was elected Pope, to his great surprise. He had even arrived in the Vatican with a return train ticket to Venice. Many had considered Giovanni Battista Montini, Archbishop of Milan, a possible candidate, but, although archbishop...
(later declared 'Blessed'), the theologically controversial Pope Paul VI
Pope Paul VI
Paul VI , born Giovanni Battista Enrico Antonio Maria Montini , reigned as Pope of the Catholic Church from 21 June 1963 until his death on 6 August 1978. Succeeding Pope John XXIII, who had convened the Second Vatican Council, he decided to continue it...
, Pope John Paul I
Pope John Paul I
John Paul I , born Albino Luciani, , reigned as Pope of the Catholic Church and as Sovereign of Vatican City from 26 August 1978 until his death 33 days later. His reign is among the shortest in papal history, resulting in the most recent Year of Three Popes...
, famous simply for the shortness of his reign
Reign
A reign is the term used to describe the period of a person's or dynasty's occupation of the office of monarch of a nation or of a people . In most hereditary monarchies and some elective monarchies A reign is the term used to describe the period of a person's or dynasty's occupation of the office...
(33 days) and for controversies over his death; and Pope John Paul II
Pope John Paul II
Blessed Pope John Paul II , born Karol Józef Wojtyła , reigned as Pope of the Catholic Church and Sovereign of Vatican City from 16 October 1978 until his death on 2 April 2005, at of age. His was the second-longest documented pontificate, which lasted ; only Pope Pius IX ...
, who, ruling the Church for over a generation, became something of an icon for the Papacy. In that context Pope Pius XI has tended to be overlooked and overshadowed, joining his predecessor Benedict XV as one of the twentieth century's "forgotten popes". Pius XI died in 1939, on the eve of the Second World War.
See also
- Cardinal electors in Papal conclave, 1922Cardinal electors in Papal conclave, 1922The following were the cardinal electors in the 1922 papal conclave. Arranged by region , and within each alphabetically...
| Duration | 5 days |
|---|---|
| Number of ballots | 14 |
| Electors | 60 |
| Absent | 7 |
| Present | 53 |
| Africa | 0 |
| Latin America | 0 |
| North America | 0 |
| Asia | 0 |
| Europe | 53 |
| Oceania | 0 |
| Mid-East | 0 |
| Italians | 30 |
| DECEASED POPE | BENEDICT XV (1914-1922) |
| NEW POPE | PIUS XI (1922-1939) |
- Reference:Francis A. Burkle-Young, Papal Elections in the Age of Transition 1878-1922 published 2000 by Rowman & Littlefield, ISBN 0-7391-0114-5