Background

Pope Pius XII (1939-1958)
His death caused the 1958 conclave.

Pope Pius XII died on October 9, 1958 in Castel Gandolfo, the papal summer residence in Italy, after a 19-year papacy. Pope Pius had been one of the most controversial popes since his namesakes Pope Pius IX (1846-1878) and Pope Pius X (1903-1914), the latter of whom Pius XII canonised. Pius had initiated a series of liturgical reforms to the Mass that in some ways were the forerunner of Vatican II changes; in one version of the Mass he introduced vocal participation by the congregation that was to become a standard feature of the Novus Ordo Missae (Mass of Pope Paul VI). He also proclaimed infallibly in his encyclical Munificentissimus Deus the dogma of the assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary into heaven. However he was generally the focus of attention over criticism of his behaviour during World War II, specifically whether he did enough to publicly highlight the genocidal policies of the regime of Adolf Hitler, and whether he had done enough to aid Jews fleeing Nazi persecution.

Pius had to that point been the longest reigning pope in the twentieth century; Pope Leo XIII, through he died in at the beginning of the century, had begun his reign and spent most of it in the nineteenth century. Some churchmen felt it was time for a change of style in pontiff.

The Case of Giovanni Montini

Giovanni Montini had been one of the stars of the Curia in the 1930s and 1940s. A skilled diplomat, many presumed that he would of course be made a cardinal in one of Pope Pius's consistories. Unexpectedly, Pius removed Montini completely from the curia and made him the Archbishop of Milan, one of the most senior dioceses in Italy, and which had produced many popes. Invariably Milanese archbishops are made cardinals at the next consistory. Yet again, surprisingly, this did not happen to Montini.

Two explanations have been made for this unusual decision. It was claimed that the Pope had already offered Montini a cardinate in 1953 but that it had been turned down. This was never verified. It was also alleged that Sister Pasqualina Lehnert, a nun who had run the Pope's household since his days as a nuncio in Bavaria, had taken a strong dislike to Montini. The Pope's health had deteriorated in the 1950s particularly due to the questionable medical treatment he received from a so-called doctor that Pius had befriended. Critics of the pope within and outside the Curia claimed that the nun exercised considerable influence during Pius's final years (some ridiculed her as La Popessa) and used her position to poison Pius's mind against Montini.

For whatever reason, Montini, who was widely tipped as the likely next pope had he had been a member of the College of Cardinals, was excluded, though even as Archbishop of Milan he still managed to pick up some votes, given that the cardinals are not restricted to choosing a pope from among their ranks. Montini was made a cardinal by the new Pope John XXIII and succeeded him as Pope Paul VI.

Papal Conclave

A conclave was held on October 25-28 to choose his successor. In the absence of the popular Montini the papabili included was the Armenian Gregorie Cardinal Agagianian and the ultraconservative Giuseppe Cardinal Siri.

The mysterious case of 'Pope Gregory XVII'

Assocates of Siri later claimed that the cardinal had actually achieved the two-thirds majority necessary to be pope, that he was offered the papacy and accepted, announcing that his regnal name would be Pope Gregory XVII, only to be forced to change his mind after the delivery of an ultimatum from the Communist Bloc to the effect that his election would lead to widespread persecution of Catholics. The then priest and later author Father Malachi Martin even claimed to have been the conduit of the information that led to Siri's decision to change his mind and not take on the papacy.

No documentary evidence exists to prove or disprove the claims, as conclaves are by their nature secret and cardinals declined to comment in any way on the claims subsequently. Some sedevacantist groups base their existence on the supposed deposition of the valid Papa Siri and the election of a supposedly invalid replacement.

Choosing Roncalli

Pope John XXIII
(1958-1963)

As with many papal conclaves, the man eventually chosen to reign as pope was not one of the papabili but a mild-mannered former diplomat of working class origins, Angelo Cardinal Roncalli, the Cardinal Patriarch of Venice. Roncalli's selection was a surprise to all, most particularly Roncalli, who arrived in Rome with a return train-ticket to Venice and who hoped for a short conclave so that he could return home.

Roncalli was elected on the 11th ballot, and took the reign name John XXIII, a name not used since the 14th century. Through his reign was short, Good Pope John as he was widely called, energised the Catholic Church and touched the hearts of non-Catholics and Catholics alike with his warmth, kindness, humility and sense of humour. His impact was shown when the fiercely anti-Catholic Belfast City Council decided to fly the flag over city hall at half-mast in his honour after his death.