Conclaves in the Modern Papacy: Factors That Influence the Elections of Popes (1846-Present)

Abstract

This research paper seeks to identify and explain external and internal factors, including international conflict, ecclesiastical norms, and the actions, styles, and reputations of popes in their life times, in the elections of popes in the Roman Catholic Church from 1846 to 2013. Using historical context is important in identifying the international, social, and political climate that the conclaves were held in. Analyzing the papacies of the individual popes is another important aspect of this research. One pontificate begins when another ends. It would therefore be unproductive to disregard the successes and shortcomings of the popes after their elections. The conclaves over the last 160 years have been influenced by a changing world and a changing church. By looking at the key figures within the conclaves and international events in the world we can identify what the cardinals were attempting to accomplish with their choices. The unification of Italy, Two World Wars, The Second Vatican Council, social ideology, internal scandal and tradition, and globalization all influenced the outcomes of this ancient process to varying degrees since 1846. Introduction Annuntio vobis gaudium magnum habemus papam. These are the words that declare to the world that a new man has been selected to take the reign of the papacy. The Papacy is the oldest continuing absolute monarchy in history. The apostle Peter is considered to be the first pope and his successors number 265. The pope is the head of the Roman Catholic church and the head of the smallest country in the world, the Holy See or Vatican City. For the last 2,000 years the Papacy has been an influential force in the spiritual lives of billions of Catholics throughout the world as well as the secular lives of countless others. Although the papacy began with an illiterate fisherman from Galilee, it nevertheless would evolve to become the chief contender for absolute power in Europe. The pope’s temporal power reached its zenith in the middle ages and, though it steadily declined, remained well into the 19th century. As the papacy came to influence the social and political sphere so too did these spheres come to influence the papacy. Although spiritual in its foundation, the papacy, like all human institutions, has built itself up on politics. 2 Scholarly Horizons: University of Minnesota, Morris Undergraduate Journal, Vol. 6, Iss. 1 [], Art. 7 https://digitalcommons.morris.umn.edu/horizons/vol6/iss1/7