1958 papal conclave

Coat of arms during the vacancy of the Holy See
Dates and location
25–28 October 1958 Sistine Chapel, Apostolic Palace, Vatican City
Key officials
Dean	Eugène Tisserant
Sub-Dean	Clemente Micara
Camerlengo	Benedetto Aloisi Masella
Protodeacon	Nicola Canali
Secretary	Alberto di Jorio
Election
Ballots	11
Elected Pope
Angelo Roncalli Name taken: John XXIII
← 1939 1963 →

Following the death of Pope Pius XII on 9 October 1958, the papal conclave of 1958 met from 25 to 28 October and on the eleventh ballot elected Angelo Roncalli, Patriarch of Venice, to succeed him. He accepted the election and took the name John XXIII. He was the second Patriarch of Venice to be elected Pontiff in the 20th century after Pope Pius X.

Some 51 of the 53 cardinals participated as cardinal electors. The Communist governments of Hungary and Yugoslavia prevented the other two from traveling to Rome. In comparison with the conclave of 1922, when three cardinals failed to reach Rome in time for the start of the conclave that opened on the tenth day following the pope's death as required, or that of 1939, when three cardinals reached Rome on the morning the conclave opened under new rules 18 days after the pope's death, all the cardinals who made the trip reached Rome by 22 October with days to spare before the conclave began 16 days after Pius' death. For the first time the speed of travel matched the internationalization of the College of Cardinals. As one newspaper put it, "the Archbishop of New York can reach Rome today faster than the Archbishop of Palermo did a generation ago". This conclave included cardinals from 21 countries, compared to 16 at the previous conclave, and 21 non-Europeans compared to seven. The 17 Italians out of 51 represented their lowest percentage since 1455.

The cardinals anticipated a long conclave. There was no "dominating personality" as Pius had been in 1939 and the customary search for contrast suggested a "pastoral pope" to follow a "diplomatic pope". Another analysis set the likely age range between 55 and 70, with a preference for an Italian outside the curia. Several papabili were discussed. The conservative, supporting Vatican centralization of authority, Giuseppe Siri of Genoa was only 52 and his election would have meant another long papacy like that of Pius. The liberal, more disposed to granting independence to local authorities, Giacomo Lercaro of Bologna was 67. Angelo Roncalli was now the Patriarch of Venice after more than 25 years in the diplomatic service of the Holy See in Bulgaria, Turkey and France. Approaching 77, his age marked him as a possible compromise choice in expectation of a short pontificate, along with his "reputation for being broad-minded and conciliatory". He also represented a combination of diplomatic and pastoral experience.Gregorio Pietro Agagianian, the Catholic Armenian Patriarch of Cilicia, had spent much of his adult life in Rome. He was relatively young at 63 and highly respected, but his non-Italian heritage would have made him a surprising choice. Other candidates mentioned were Ernesto Ruffini of Palermo, and two curia officials Valerio Valeri and Alfredo Ottaviani. Benedetto Masella, the 79-year-old chosen as camerlengo on 9 October, a veteran diplomat, was also mentioned as a compromise candidate with "his chances diminished because of his age". Also mentioned as a radical departure from tradition was Giovanni Battista Montini, Archbishop of Milan, whom Pius had not yet made a cardinal. The New York Times cast a wide net, offering more than a dozen names, including two non-Italians, Paul-Émile Léger of Montreal and Manuel Goncalves Cerejeira of Lisbon.Life magazine's coverage included portraits of Agagianian, Lercaro, Montini, Ottaviani, Roncalli, Ruffini, Siri, and Valeri. As the press speculated about interest in a transitional pope and possible discussions among the cardinal electors, the Vatican's mouthpiece Osservatore Romano denounced the "irresponsible lightness" with which the press approached the subject, especially its reports of electioneering. A Moscow radio broadcast criticized Pius for meddling in politics and hoped for a new pope devoted instead to "religious problems".