SEDE VACANTE

(September 22, 1774—February 15, 1775)

CARLO CARDINAL DELLA TORRE REZZONICO, iuniore (1724-1799), nephew of Pope Clement XIII (1758-1769), who ordained him as a priest. He was made Referendary of the Tribune of the Apostolic Segnatura in 1751. After his uncle became pope, he was immediately named Cardinal Deacon (September 11, 1758) and Vice-Chancellor of the Holy Roman Church (1758-1763). He was named Chamberlain of the Holy Roman Church on January 24, 1763, a post which he held until his death on January 26, 1799. He was fifty-five at the time of the conclave of 1774-1775. In the new reign (Clement XIV) in 1773 he became Cardinal Bishop of Sabina, exchanging it for Porto and Santa Rufina in 1776. He was Archpriest of the Lateran and Secretary of the Roman Inquisition.

MSGR. GUGLIELMO PALLOTTA (1727-1795) was born in Macerata, a relative of cardinals of the 16th and 17th century. He studied law in Rome and became a protege of Carlo Card. Rezzonico. He was made a canon of the Vatican Basilica, and served on the board of the Rev. Fabbrica. He was Secretary of the Sacred Congregation of Good Government, and was appointed Treasurer General of the Apostolic Chamber (Reverendae Camerae Apostolicae Thesaurius Generalis) in 1773. He was created Cardinal Priest of S. Eusebio on June 23, 1777, and transferred to Santa Maria degli Angeli (S. Maria in Thermis Diocletianis) in 1782. He was Prefect of the Sacred Congregation of the Council of Trent from July 1, 1785 to his death on September 21, 1795.

Pope Clement XIV had been ill on and off during most of his pontificate (extensively detailed by the French Ambassador in Rome, Cardinal de Bernis, in his dispatches to the French Foreign Ministers, Aiguillon. Choiseul, and the Comte de Vergennes). He was under constant extraordinary stress because of the Jesuit issue, deliberately imposed on him by both sides. He was subject to severe depressions, and he imagined that his life was in danger (which was no paranoid delusion), and that he was a target for assassination by poison. Cardinal Bernis noticed a change for the worse in the pope's health in an audience of August 16, which he confirmed on August 24 and 28. On September 7, Clement seemed to be in remission, and even proposed a vacation for himself at Castel Gandolfo. On the 8th he presided at ceremonies at S. Maria del Popolo, and seemed fatigued. He contracted a remittant fever. On the evening of the 19th he had a blood-letting, and another the next morning. On the 21st, at 7 p.m, he received extreme unction, and the next morning at 8:00 a.m. he died. The autopsy indicated—despite rumors, asservations and denials—that he had not been poisoned (Masson, pp. 286-296).

The Conclave began on October 5, 1774, and lasted 134 days. Twenty-seven cardinals entered into conclave, though the number later reached forty-three.

The dissolution of the Society of Jesus, which had been accomplished on paper a bare year before the death of Clement XIV, was again the chief issue at the Conclave of 1774-75. The zelanti were committed to the restoration of the Jesuits, and the Bourbon monarchs equally determined that the next pope would not be willing to do that. It was again the French agent, Cardinal de Bernis, who did much of the "arranging". He used his cell as a social center, providing various delicacies sent in from outside to entertain his colleagues. He also spent his time searching for someone on the other side who would be reasonable enough to accept the conditions of the Bourbons.

On February 12, 1775, he had a conversation with Cardinal Braschi, and in it he set forth the requirements of the Spaniards: no Jesuit restoration, no bull In Coena Domini, and no agitation over claims to Parma, Piacenza and the Two Sicilies (which were papal fiefs, but which were occupied by the Spaniards without the proper legalities). On the 13th, Bernis and Braschi met again to determine who would fill the important offices in the papal government. On the 14th, Bernis undertook the job of producing a two-thirds majority for the agreeable Braschi. On the 15th of February, Braschi was elected unanimously. Again, as in 1769, the successful candidate, Giovanni Braschi (Pius VI), was a person who was not clearly identified with either point of view, and who was ill-equipped to deal with the real threats of the Enlightenment, anti-clericalism, atheism, and republican revolutionary trends.