Conclave 1939

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Coat of arms of the Cardinal Chamberlain during the Sedis vacancy
Pope Pius XI †
Pope Pius XII

The 1939 conclave met in the period from March 1 to March 2, 1939. It had become necessary, after Pope Pius XI. died on February 10 of the same year. It ended with the election of Cardinal Secretary of State and Camerlengo Eugenio Pacelli (on his 63rd birthday) as the new head of the Roman Catholic Church , who was named Pius XII. assumed.

procedure

After the death of Pius XI. Cardinal Dean Gennaro Granito Pignatelli di Belmonte summoned the cardinals for a conclave. With only three rounds of voting, it was the shortest conclave of the 20th century . Each of the 62 cardinals eligible to vote was present. How clear the election of Cardinal Pacelli as Pope was can be seen from the fact that his election lasted only one day.

Pacelli was the first Cardinal Secretary of State since 1667 of Clement IX. who was elected Pope, the first Camerlengo since Leo XIII. in 1878, was the first member of the Curia since Gregory XVI. in 1831 and the first native Roman since Clement X in 1670.

Participating cardinals

Among the 62 cardinals were three German cardinals and one from Austria (at that time part of the National Socialist German Empire). The number of non-European cardinals had increased to seven.

Most of the cardinals were made by the late Pius XI. created. Only ten cardinals had already participated in the 1922 conclave .

Note: (AUT) = counts as Austrian today

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Giancarlo Zizola : The successor , Patmos-Verlag 1997, p. 116