CONCLAVE. In ecclesiastical usage, the term denotes both the place where the cardinals assemble after the death of the pope in a kind of enclosure and segregation to proceed with the election of the new Supreme Pontiff, and the assembly of cardinals gathered for the election of the pope. The term appears for the first time in the apostolic constitution *Ubi periculum* of Gregory X, dated July 1274.
I. HISTORY
Nicholas II in 1059 (*In Nomine Domini*) reserved the election of the pope to the cardinals and bishops alone, and Alexander III in 1179 (*Licet de vitanda*) recognized only the Sacred College of Cardinals as competent to nominate the popes, establishing the necessary majority at two-thirds of the votes.These wise measures removed many inconveniences from papal elections, but left one rather serious problem: the length of the elections and the vacancies of the Holy See, which were always very harmful to ecclesiastical discipline and life.
The creation of the conclave was prompted by a singular episode in ecclesiastical history. Already in 1216, when it came to elect a successor to Innocent III, the citizens of Perugia had forced the cardinals, by means of enforced enclosure, to proceed promptly to the election; similarly, the Romans, at the death of Gregory IX (22 Aug. 1241), had shut the cardinals in the Septizonium of Septimius Severus on the slopes of the Palatine. But after the death of Clement IV (29 Nov. 1268), the eighteen cardinals composing the Sacred College, gathered in the papal palace at Viterbo to proceed with the nomination of his successor, could not come to an agreement. It is said that, after the personal interventions of King Philip III of France and St. Bonaventure, general of the Franciscans, then in Viterbo, had proved fruitless, eighteen months after the Pope’s death, the latter advised the citizens to rigorously enclose the cardinals in the papal palace so that, removed from all external influence, they might more easily reach a decision. Despite the enclosure, however, the cardinals did not agree. The *podestà* of the city, Alberto di Montebuono, and Raniero Gatti, head of the militia guarding the conclave, impatient at such delay, had the roof of the palace removed and allowed the cardinals to receive only bread and water. Finally, through a compromise, the cardinals elected Teobaldo Visconti of Piacenza, archdeacon of Liège and then apostolic legate in Syria, who took the name Gregory X.
Aware of the need to prevent in the future such harmful vacancies of the Apostolic See, Gregory X, in the fifth session of the Second Council of Lyon in 1274, promulgated the constitution *Ubi periculum*, which in a way canonized the actions of the citizens of Viterbo. Its prescriptions were strict, and many have remained substantially in force until our time. The main ones are as follows: after the death of the pope, the cardinals wait ten days for the arrival of their colleagues for the conclave; then, each with a single lay or priestly servant, they assemble if possible in the same palace where the pope died, or in some nearby city in the episcopal palace or another suitable place, where in a single hall without dividing walls or curtains they will live in common, except for free access to a reserved chamber. These two rooms had to be so well sealed that no one could enter or leave without being observed; no one could speak secretly with any cardinal, but if necessary, it had to be done with the permission of the Sacred College and publicly; nor could messages or letters be admitted or sent. The keys of the conclave were to be kept, the inner ones by the cardinal camerlengo, and the outer ones by the marshal of the conclave. This office belonged for almost five centuries to the family of Savelli (1274-1272), and upon the death of the last of the Savelli it passed to the Chigi family, which still holds II. Food was to be introduced through a well-guarded wicket with a turnstile and examined to ensure it contained no letters or notes. If, after three days, the cardinals had not reached an election, for the next five days they could have only one dish for lunch and one for dinner; after these five days, they could have only bread, wine, and water—a severity perhaps excessive, which was mitigated by Clement VI (*Licet in constitutione* of 6 Dec. 1351).
As with all bold reforms, Gregory X’s laws encountered difficulties in their implementation. The next conclave, which produced Innocent V (21 Jan. 1276), lasted only one day, but unfortunately in that same year there were as many as three elections, and both Adrian V and John XXI abolished the Gregorian laws (*licet* of 30 Sept. 1276). The consequence was that elections held outside the conclave again became long. For the election of Nicholas III (25 Nov. 1277), seven months and eight days were required; for that of Martin IV, ten months and nineteen days (22 Feb. 1281); for that of Nicholas IV, ten months and twelve days (22 Feb. 1288). Even worse happened at his death, which occurred on 4 Apr. 1292: the vacancy lasted two years and three months.
This experience was eloquent enough, and therefore Celestine V, in the five months of his pontificate before his resignation, with three bulls (*Quia in futurum* of 28 Sept. 1294; *Pridem* of 27 Oct. 1294; *Constitutionem* of 10 Dec. 1294) reinstated the Gregorian laws. His successor (Boniface VIII) was in fact elected in a conclave in a single day; he confirmed the prescriptions of his predecessor and inserted the Gregorian laws into his *Liber Sextus* (v. CORPUS IURIS CANONICI). From then on, the law of the conclave was always observed, even during the Avignon period, albeit with some non-substantial modifications suggested by changing circumstances of time and place.
Many popes made adjustments, modifications, and expansions to the law: among these, the bull of Pius IV of 9 Oct. 1562, *In eligendis*, which minutely regulated the authority of the cardinals and the congregations during the vacancy, is noteworthy. Other popes addressed the method of election, which remained fixed in one of the three existing forms: by inspiration, by compromise, or by secret ballot; soon the *accessio* took place, by which some cardinal, seeing the likely success of a candidate who lacked only a few votes, would change his initial vote orally so as to reach the required two-thirds majority. It will be seen how Pius X replaced this *accessio* with a second ballot. Pius X also took steps to eliminate any intervention by civil authority in the conclave (v. VETO). All the conclaves of the Avignon period (except the one that produced Martin V, held at Constance on 11 Nov. 1417) up to our time (except the one in which Pius VII was elected, held in Venice) were held in Rome. The first two after the schism took place in the Dominican convent of Santa Maria sopra Minerva and produced the popes Eugenius IV (1431) and Nicholas V (1447). All the other conclaves from the 15th to the 18th century were held in the Vatican. Some of them were very brief; for example, the one that produced Julius II (1503) and Paul III (1534) lasted a single day; others were laborious and long, such as the one that gave the Church Benedict XIV (lasting from 19 Feb. to 17 Aug. 1740, i.e., six months).
For the needs of the conclave, the Vatican was isolated by means of walls, and to communicate with the outside world there were only four turnstiles guarded by prelates (auditors of the Sacred Roman Rota, protonotaries, bishops, and archbishops assisting the Throne) and outside by detachments of guards.
At the death of Pius VII (1823), the papal palace of the Quirinal was preferred for the conclave, as it was higher and more regular, allowing better accommodation for the two or three hundred people who make up the conclave. There were elected Leo XII (1823), Pius VIII (1829), Gregory XVI (1831), and Pius IX (1846). At the death of Pius IX (1878), it was necessary to return to the Vatican; the same was done for the conclaves that produced Pius X (1903), Benedict XV (1914), Pius XI (1922), and Pius XII (1939).
The stormy events of the past century led Popes Pius VI, Pius VII, and Pius IX to establish norms for cases of assaults or violations of the liberty of the Sacred College. Among these extraordinary provisions, the one issued by Leo XIII (Apostolic Constitution *Praedecessores Nostri*, 24 May 1882), drafted during the height of Italian anticlericalism when an attack on the Vatican was feared, remained in force until Pius XII’s recent constitution *Vacantis Apostolicae Sedis* (see below). These norms (together with those contained in the Instruction annexed to the constitution) were appended to the *Codex Iuris Canonici* (Document III), but after Pius XII’s constitution they were abrogated and are no longer reproduced in recent editions of the *CIC*. In reality, the conclaves held after the capture of Rome were entirely free and tranquil; since Pius X, they have also been shrouded in the deepest secrecy.
II. CURRENT LEGISLATION
The present discipline of the conclave, hitherto regulated by Pius X’s constitution *Vacante Sede Apostolica* (25 December 1904), appended as the first supplementary document to the *CIC*, underwent minor modifications first by Pius XI, who on 1 March 1922 issued the *motu proprio* *Cum proxime*, also appended to the Code (Document IX), and finally by Pius XII (*Constitution Vacantis Apostolicae Sedis*, 8 December 1945, in *AAS*, 38 [1946], pp. 65 ff.), which essentially manifests the law of Pius X with only slight adjustments, apart from one notable change requiring an additional ballot beyond the two-thirds majority. The minor modifications will be noted in their proper place.Under these constitutions, the cardinals may neither enact new laws nor amend existing ones, nor execute graces and dispositions given by the deceased pope that have not yet been carried out.
They must especially avoid any action that might diminish the rights of the Apostolic See (n. 2). In urgent cases, the Sacred College is the arbiter and decides by majority vote (n. 5).
During the vacancy, a general congregation of all the cardinals must be held daily; particular congregations, composed of the Camerlengo and the deans of the three Orders of the Sacred College—that is, the Cardinal Dean of Bishops, the Cardinal Dean of Priests, and the Cardinal Dean of Deacons—shall then be held as often as necessary. The deans may serve on the particular congregations for only three days, after which their respective Vice-Deans take their place, and after another three days, the next in order of precedence (n. 6). The particular congregation is to deal only with matters of lesser importance; any matter of significance or contention must be referred to the general congregation (n. 7). Voting takes place by written and secret ballot in matters of greater moment. Of special importance are the preparatory general congregations that precede the conclave and arrange everything concerning the pope’s funeral. During these congregations, the constitution *Vacantis Sedis Apostolicae* of Pius XII must be read, and the cardinals must take a special oath, in which they promise to observe the Holy See with religious fidelity.
As soon as the Camerlengo is informed of the pope’s death by the Master of the Camera, he proceeds to the Vatican Palace to take possession and exercise his office; he also takes possession of the Lateran Palace and the villa of Castel Gandolfo (n. 15). It is his duty officially to certify the pope’s death and draw up the authentic act, arrange for embalming (respecting the deceased’s wishes), notify the Cardinal Vicar for functions to be performed in the City, and so forth (n. 15).
The Dean of the Sacred College then summons all the cardinals to the Vatican (n. 16). Neither the office of the Cardinal Vicar nor that of the Papal Almoner ceases during the vacancy (nn. 20–21). The Sacred Congregations and Apostolic Tribunals continue to function during the vacancy, but only with their ordinary faculties, excluding all business requiring reference to the pope and also any matters of importance that, not being urgent, can be deferred until after the election of the pope (nn. 23–25). During the vacancy, the Sacred College exercises all authority over the State of the Vatican City (n. 23). Arrangements are then made for the pope’s funeral, known as the *novemdiales*; the last three days are the most solemn (nn. 29–31).
The election of the Supreme Pontiff is reserved to the cardinals alone (even those created only in consistory and even if excommunicated, provided they have not renounced their dignity and their renunciation was accepted by the deceased pope). No council, which is ipso facto suspended upon the pope’s death, has any right to interfere in the election (n. 33). According to Pius X’s constitution, the cardinals entered the conclave ten days after the pope’s death; Pius XI extended this period to fifteen days to allow time for those from afar, especially those from America, and permitted the Sacred College to prolong it further, but not beyond a total of eighteen days. Pius XII sanctioned this in the constitution *Vacantis* (n. 37).
Cardinals who arrive after the conclave has begun, provided the election has not yet taken place, may enter and participate in the voting. The same applies to a cardinal who had to leave the conclave on medical orders and then returns. On the other hand, a cardinal who refuses to enter the conclave or, having entered, arbitrarily leaves it, forfeits the right to vote (n. 40). Cardinals who, without being impeded by health, fail to attend the conclave are excommunicated (n. 41).
Each cardinal may bring with him two secretaries or attendants (clerics or laymen); however, only one of them—a layman—may accompany him into the conclave (n. 49). These “conclavists” must not be prelates (lest they exert influence on the election) nor religious, nor may they be blood relatives or in-laws of the cardinals in the first or second degree (n. 44). They are admitted only after a diligent examination of their qualifications by the appropriate commission and must take a most solemn oath binding them to absolute secrecy under severe penalties.
Those confined within the conclave include the Papal Sacristan with some assistants, at most six masters of ceremonies, the Secretary of the Sacred College (Assessor of the Sacred Congregation of the Consistory), a religious confessor, a physician, a surgeon, a pharmacist, at least two architects (n. 54 of *Vacantis*), with some attendants and the minimum necessary laborers (nn. 51–56). Since 1878, the cardinals have used the Vatican kitchen, and the picturesque carriages of the *dapiferi*, which before 1870 carried meals from the individual cardinals’ kitchens to the Vatican, have ceased.
Once the pope’s funeral is completed and the conclave prepared, the Dean or his delegate celebrates the Mass *De Spiritu Sancto*, and a prelate or religious delivers the discourse *De eligendo summo pontifice*, urging the election of the most worthy. After the Mass, or more commonly in the evening, the cardinals enter the conclave in procession behind the papal cross, carried by the Master of Ceremonies. Upon arriving in the chapel, the constitution *Vacantis* of Pius XII is read again and the oath is taken anew; then the cardinals retire to their cells. Meanwhile, the *conclavists* take their oath before the Camerlengo; the Master of the Camera and the Marshal of the Conclave take their oaths separately according to special formulas. After the bell has been rung three times, the conclave is sealed, and after a thorough search of all the rooms to remove any outsiders, the *conclavists* are checked in the chapel (n. 54).
The election of the pope must take place in the conclave and after it has been closed; however, it is not established as a penalty for the nullity of the election (the nullity had been established by Gregory XV, with the constitution *Aeterni Patris* of 15 November 1621). Pius X, wisely, wished that the validity of the election should be beyond all dispute, and so he removed this sanction, as well as the other one introduced by Julius II (constitution *Cum tam divino* of 14 January 1505), by which a simoniacal election would be null (cf. now nn. 57 and 92 of the constitution *Vacantis Sedi Apostolicae*).
The enclosure of the conclave cannot be violated: transgressors will be expelled and punished by the new pope (n. 58). Once the conclave is closed, no one is admitted to speak with the cardinals or with the conclavists unless in the presence of the prelates who guard the conclave and provided that they speak in a loud and intelligible voice. If any outsider should dare to enter the conclave, he will thereby forfeit every rank, honor, office, or benefice (n. 59). Letters and printed matter cannot enter or, above all, leave the conclave before being reviewed by the secretary of the Sacred College and the assigned prelates. It is absolutely forbidden, under pain of excommunication, to send newspapers or periodicals out of the conclave. Pius XII in the *Vacantis* has forbidden the introduction into the conclave of telegraphic, telephonic, microphone, radio, photographic, cinematographic, and similar apparatus (n. 64).
Cardinals and conclavists are bound to the most perfect secrecy, so as not to reveal anything that directly or indirectly pertains to the election, under pain of excommunication reserved exclusively to the pope (n. 60). The cardinals may not reveal the outcome of the ballots to their familiars under the same penalty (n. 61). Such secrecy must also be observed (though no excommunication is imposed) even after the election has taken place, unless the new pope grants a special dispensation.
The election usually takes place in the Sistine Chapel, along whose walls as many voting places are set up as there are cardinals. A ballot is held in the morning and one in the evening: after an unfruitful ballot (that is, according to the recent *Vacantis* [n. 68], every scrutiny in which a candidate does not receive as many votes as two-thirds of the voters plus one), another is held immediately, so that in fact there are four ballots a day. According to the norms given by Pius X, the ballot was constructed in such a way as to guarantee the most absolute secrecy and at the same time to allow verification of whether the cardinal had voted for himself (this verification was made only when two-thirds of the votes were precisely reached for a name). Pius XII, by requiring a vote in addition to the two-thirds, has rendered this verification unnecessary in every case and consequently has simplified the ballots, which now contain only the name of the elector and no indication of the elector (nn. 72–77). During the elections, the cardinals, dressed in the *crocchia* or in the violet mozzetta, used to refrain from celebrating Mass, but they received Communion in the Sistine Chapel itself: now, however, they have the faculty to celebrate Mass even during the conclave (n. 65). Both in the morning and in the evening, every sterile scrutiny is announced to the crowd, which for the occasion gathers in St. Peter’s Square, by means of the “fumata,” which is dark and smoky (because, in addition to the ballots, damp paper or straw is burned with them); the scrutiny that has elected the pope produces a clear “fumata” made only by the ballots.
Simony, negotiations and agreements about the successor while the pope is alive, the acceptance and even the direct or indirect communication of the veto of any power or sovereign are forbidden under pain of excommunication (v. VETO). It is also forbidden under the same penalty, and is null, for any agreement or promise, even if sworn, by which a cardinal binds himself to vote in a certain way. Exchanges of ideas about the election, however, are not forbidden, provided they take place during the vacancy of the Holy See (n. 95). Likewise null are the “capitulations” (v. CAPITOLAZIONE) to which the cardinals might have bound the election before casting their vote (n. 94).
After the canonical election, the dean asks the consent of the one elected with a special formula consecrated by Pius XII (n. 100 of the *Vacantis*). Once this consent is given, the new pope already acquires full jurisdiction over the whole Church. The dean of the deacons then announces to the people from the balcony: “Annuntio vobis gaudium magnum. Habemus papam dominum cardinalem... qui sibi nomen imposuit...”. The cardinals pay homage to the newly elected: in the Sistine Chapel, the canopies of all the cardinals are lowered except that of the one named. The new pope, dressed in white vestments, gives the first blessing to the people from the balcony of St. Peter’s. The first to give it after 1870 was Pius XI (1922). The coronation (v.) takes place in the following days by the dean of the deacons (n. 108) with the corresponding solemn ceremony in St. Peter’s, with messages to the whole world, to heads of state, etc.
The conclavists enjoy various privileges: in the past they had very extensive faculties and prerogatives that the new pope promulgated as one of his first acts; in the last conclave, they were granted only the privilege of a domestic oratory. Establishing such privileges is the prerogative of the new pope, who takes into account also the duration of the conclave itself. — See pl. VIII.