SEDE VACANTE 1878

February 7, 1878—February 20, 1878

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Gioacchino Card. Pecci (Pope Leo XIII)

No coins of the Sede Vacante were issued. Normally the Camerlengo, the Hereditary Marshal, the Majordomo as Governor of the Conclave, the Conservatori of Rome, the Governor of Rome, the Treasurer of the Holy Roman Church, and the Auditor General of the Apostolic Chamber had the right to issue medals. In this Conclave, only the Camerlengo and Hereditary Marshal issued medals (De Cesare Dal conclave 325-326).

GIOACCHINO VINCENZO CARDINAL PECCI (1810-1903), was born at Carpineto near Anagni, south of Rome. He was the son of Domenico Luigi Pecci (not of the Pecci of Siena) and Anna Prosperi (alleged to be a descendant of Cola di Rienzi). He studied at the Jesuit College in Viterbo (1818-1824) and at Rome, at the Roman College and at the Academy of Noble Ecclesiastics (entered in 1832). He received a doctorate in canon and civil law from the University of Rome La Sapienza. He was ordained priest in 1837 and made Governor of Benevento less than two months later (1838-1841), then Spoleto (June-July 1841), and then Perugia (1841-1843). He joined the diplomatic service, as Nuncio to Bruxelles (1843-1846), and to facilitate that function was made Titular Archishop of Damietta. He was recalled, however, on the demand of King Leopold I, and was made Bishop of Perugia (1846-1878) in compensation for his embarassment. He was named a cardinal on December 19, 1853 by Pope Pius IX, and was given the titular Church of S. Crisogono in Trastevere. On September 21, 1877, he was appointed Camerlengo, a post which he held until his election to the papacy on February 20, 1878. On the political problems involved in his appointment, see Lector, Le conclave 281-283.

 

The Dean of the Sacred College of Cardinals was Luigi Cardinal Amat (June 21, 1796-March 30, 1878), who was present at the conclave, but was seriously ill, in consideration of which he was granted a third conclavist.. He had been created Cardinal by Gregory XVI on May 19, 1837.

The Majordomo (Prefect of the Pontifical Household) and Governor of the Conclave was Msgr. Francesco Marinelli, OESA.

The Secretary of the Conclave was Msgr. Pietro Lasagni, the Secretary of the Consistorial Congregation and Secretary of the Sacred College of Cardinals.

The Marshal of the Conclave was Prince Mario Chigi (1832-1914), son of Prince Sigismondo Chigi della Rovere Albani, principe de Farnese (1798-1877) and Amalia Charlotte, princessa Barberini Colonna. His family held the post of Hereditary Marshal of the Holy Roman Church (His medal: Mazio #918; De Cesare, Il conclavo, p. 276, states that the medal was engraved by G. Pasinati, and issued in AV, AG, and AE. See also Lector, 363-364.).

The Papal Master of Ceremonies at the Conclave was Msgr. Pio Martinucci.  He was assisted by Camilo Balestra, Giuseppe Romagnoli, Antonio Cataldi, Alessandro Tortoli, and Agostino Accoramboni.

 

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Death of the Pope

Pope Pius IX died on February 7, 1878, around 6:00 p.m., in the Vatican Palace (Lector, 146). At the bedside were thirty-eight cardinals, led by the Major Penitentiary, Cardinal Antonio Bilio [portrait at right] and the Camerlengo, Cardinal Gioacchino Pecci. The Chamberlain was in a delicate position politically and diplomatically: his duty was to act as conservator of the temporal property of the Holy See, nearly all of which had been seized by the new Kingdom of Italy. Virtually any move he might make could provoke serious reaction. Contrary to custom and the Constitution of Pope Clement XII  (Lector, 192), the first General Congregation of the College of Cardinals took place on the next day rather than on the fourth day after the pope's death.  It was contended that there were special circumstances, since Rome was under occupation, and there was a question as to whether the Conclave could be held there safely (Lector, 198-200). Despite proclamations from several Italian authorities, it was feared that the Vatican might be occupied by Italian troops. Pius IX had foreseen all of these difficulties, and had been making provision for some years. On August 23, 1871, he issued a bull, In hac sublimi, which confirmed the right of the cardinals to an unobstructed election, excluded any lay interference, and granted the curial cardinals the right to decide whether the conclave would be held in Rome or elsewhere (Ceccaroni, 85-98). This bull was confirmed in another bull on September 8, 1874, Licet per apostolicas (Ceccaroni, 98-105), and yet again in the bull Consulturi of October 10, 1877 (Ceccaroni, 105-120). On January 10, 1878, the Pope issued a series of directions, giving specific instructions in the most minute detail for the Interregnum and the Conclave (Ceccaroni, 121-129).  Several cardinals were already in favor of moving the Conclave out of Rome, including Franzelin, Ledochowski and Manning. Thirty of the thirty-eight cardinals at their first meeting were in favor of moving the Conclave out of Rome (Spectator alter, 80-81). By the next meeting, the number in favor of moving the Conclave to Spain had been reduced to five, with thirty-two in favor of remaining in Rome. But after further Italian assurances were received (See De Cesare, Dal conclave, 161-178), and Cardinal Di Pietro, the Sub-Dean of the Sacred College, intervened in the debates, only five cardinals still wished to abandon Rome.

 

 

Funeral Ceremonies

The body of the pope was enbalmed on the evening of February 8, and his praecordia carried in a marble urn to the Old Crypt of Saint Peter's Basilica (to the right of the heavy pillar in the photo).  The praecordia were customarily carried in a nocturnal procession to the Church of S. Vincenzo ed Anastasio at the Fontana di Trevi, the parish church of the Quirinale Palace.  There they were placed in a special crypt along with the praecordia of numerous other popes since the seventeenth century [V. Forcella, Inscrizioni delle chiesa di Roma IX,  p. 273, no. 553; p. 274, nos. 555 and 556; p. 275, nos. 559 and 562; p. 276, nos. 565 and 566; p. 278, nos. 571 and 572; p. 280, no. 577; p. 281, no. 581; p. 291].  This had been done on the occasion of the death of Pius IX's predecessor, Gregory XVI.  On this occasion, however, with Rome in the hands of  "the Enemy", the House of Savoy,  and with the sentiments of the people of Rome strongly against the late Pope, who had ruled over them for a quarter of a century only with the military support of the French, it was not thought desirable to attempt to carry out the traditional rites.  Therefore, the praecordia were placed in the crypt of the Vatican Basilica.

 

From: D. Sladen, The Secrets of the Vatican (Philadelphia 1907) 222

From February 9 to February 13, the body lay in state in St. Peter's. In the evening the coffin was entombed in a niche above the door to the chapel of the Choir (Lector, 170-176).  It remained there until a permanent tomb was constructed in S. Lorenzo fuori le mure.  On the occasion of the transfer of the body to S. Lorenzo, the popular disorders were such that the body was nearly seized and thrown into the Tiber.

 

Solemn masses for the repose of the soul of the late pontiff were held in the Sistine Chapel on the 15th, 16th, and 17th of February, at which the entire College of Cardinals were present. After the Mass on each day, the Cardinals received the diplomats accredited to the Holy See, each of whom expressed their condolences.

The Cardinals

The names of all the cardinals and their conclavists, as well as the principal attendants at the Conclave are given in: Leonis XIII Pontificis Maximi Acta Volumen I (Roma 1881) 26-34.  Another list is provided by Gerardo Mullé de la Cerda, in his Apéndice Num. II., 161-170

Early Maneuvers

On February 11, Count Andrassy informed the Austrian representative at the Vatican, Graf Paar, that the Emperor was not favorable to the candidacies of either Cardinal Ledochowski (an exile in Rome because of the Prussian Külturkampf) or Cardinal Joannes-Baptist Franzelin, SJ (Engel-Janosi, 210-211). On the evening of the 15th, a private meeting took place in the rooms of Cardinal Bartolini, which included Cardinals Manning, Franchi, Bilio, Monaco and Nina. The name of Cardinal Pecci was proposed as a candidate by Cardinal Bartolini, and it was unanimously agreed by those present that he was their first choice. They also agreed, after some discussion of other possibilities as a second choice, including Manning himself, that the next pope had to be an Italian. Cardinal Manning agreed to speak with the non-Italians in favor of Pecci, aided by Cardinal Howard. (Life of Cardinal Manning, 550-551).

 

Balloting

The Conclave of 1878 was a short one. It began on the evening of February 18, with sixty-one cardinals in attendance. Earlier that day the Mass of the Holy Spirit had been sung in the Pauline Chapel of the Vatican by Cardinal Schwarzenberg (Archbishop of Vienna). In the evening, Cardinal Gioacchino Pecci, the Camerlengo, presided over the closing of the gates of the Conclave, enclosing some 250 persons. In addition to support for Cardinal Pecci, Cardinal Chigi and Cardinal Martinelli were also being touted. On the 19th a ballot was taken at noon, giving Cardinal Pecci 23 votes, but it was apparently voided because of a violation in the rules of filling out individual ballots; two ballots had become conjoined by the sealing wax (Lector, 631-632). Keller states (p. 246) that the problem was caused because "one of the cardinals had, contrary to the regulation, affixed to his paper a seal which bore the mark of the dignity of a cardinal."

Bilio	7
Pecci	23
Monaco	4
4 or 5 Others	27

Spectator alter (p. 86) has a different count:

Bilio	7
Pecci	19
Franchi	5
De Luca	5

 

On the morning of the 19th Cardinal Donnet (Archbishop of Bordeaux) entered conclave.

Election

A second ballot gave Cardinal Pecci 38 out of the 61 votes cast—a majority, but not the 2/3 needed for election. After the second ballot was completed, the Patriarch of Lisbon, Cardinal Moraes Cardoso, arrived and was duly admitted and sworn. In this interval (Lector, 386), the opponents of Pecci joined together and agreed to support Cardinal Franchi, but on February 20, on the third ballot, Cardinal Pecci received 44 out of 62 votes, and was canonically elected. De Cesare (Dal conclave p. 306) gives the details of the voting:

Bilio	5
Schwarzenberg	1
Pecci	44
Panebianco	3
Ferreri	1
Monaco	2
Martinelli	2
Simeoni	2
Canossa	1

 

Those said to have been most hostile to Cardinal Pecci were Cardinals Oreglia, Giannelli, Chigi, Randi, Sacconi, Monaco, Amat, and Franzelein. No veto was presented during the Conclave, due to the swiftness of the action of the electors, though a number of Powers, with the active instigation of Bismarck, had been laying plans to see that the right sort of pope was elected (Lector, 504-510). The canonical election was proclaimed from the windows of the loggia above the narthex of St. Peter's Basilica, to those gathered inside the basilica. The Italian government had expressed alarm at the possibility of violent demonstrations if the proclamation were to be made in the normal way, from the outward-facing windows of the loggia (See De Cesare, Dal conclave, 309-320).

Cardinal Pecci took the name Leo XIII (died July 20, 1903), and was crowned in the Sistine Chapel (March 3), since his own diocese was anathema to him, after its incorporation into the Kingdom of Italy in 1870 (See De Cesare, Dal conclave, 335-344). He never took possession of the Lateran Basilica, never having left the Vatican in the twenty-three years of his pontificate.