On May 8, 2025, the world got a new pope! The Vatican conclave succeeded on the third attempt. The positive decision of the cardinals was evidenced by the white smoke that came from the chimney of the Sistine Chapel.
He was American Cardinal Robert Prevost, who took the name Leon XIV.
The first words of Pope Leon XIV’s first speech were “peace be with you”. He returned to this theme repeatedly throughout the speech.
Robert Francis Prevost was born in Chicago and worked for many years as a missionary in Peru.
In 2023, he was appointed by Cardinal Francis to head the Dicastery for Bishops, an influential position responsible for selecting new bishops.
Before the conclave, he was promoted as a “compromise candidate” for the papal throne.
Note that the shortest period of papal election was the conclave of 1503. Cardinal Giuliano della Rovere promised generous rewards to the other churchmen if he was elected, and they demanded, among other things, that he not make important decisions without the consent of two-thirds of the members of the Sacred College. Giuliano della Rovere was elected as Julius II by almost unanimous vote in a few hours.
The longest conclaves were held in the thirteenth through fourteenth centuries. The longest election of a pope in the history of the Catholic Church lasted 2 years 9 months and 3 days – from 1268 to 1271. Cardinals could not decide who should occupy the papal throne – a Frenchman or an Italian. As a result, the Italian priest Theobaldo Visconti (Gregory X) became pope, and he also used the word “conclave” for the first time in the apostolic constitution he issued at the Second Council of Lyons in 1274.
After the death of Pope Clement V in 1314, the cardinals also took a long time to agree on a new pontiff. The conclave dragged on for 2 years 4 months and 6 days, 72-year-old Cardinal Jacques Duez (John XXII) was elected pope.
The third longest was the election of Celestine V (Pietro del Murrone). The conclave lasted 2 years and 3 months, from April 5, 1292 to July 5, 1294. On December 13 of the same year the newly elected pope abdicated.
In the XX century the longest election of a pope took 5 days (July 31 – August 4, 1903). Then Pius X (Giuseppe Melchiora Sarto) became the new pope. Both conclaves in the 21st century lasted 2 days. They elected Popes Benedict XVI (Joseph Aloysius Ratzinger) and Francis (Jorge Mario Bergoglio).
The last election, which took over a week, was held in 1831. The election of Gregory XVI (Bartolomeo Alberto Cappellari) took 1 month and 19 days.
The shortest papal election was the conclave of 1503. Cardinal Giuliano della Rovere promised generous rewards to the other churchmen if elected, and they demanded, among other things, that he not make important decisions without the consent of two-thirds of the members of the Sacred College. Giuliano della Rovere was elected under the name of Julius II by almost unanimous vote in a few hours.
