Papal conclave, 1914

Coat of arms during the vacancy of the Holy See
Dates and location
31 August – 3 September 1914 Sistine Chapel, Apostolic Palace, Rome
Key officials
Dean	Serafino Vannutelli
Sub-Dean	Francesco di Paola Cassetta
Camerlengo	Francesco Salesio Della Volpe
Protodeacon	Francesco Salesio Della Volpe
Election
Ballots	10
Elected Pope
Giacomo della Chiesa (Name taken: Benedict XV)
← 1903 1922 →

The Papal conclave of 1914 was held to choose a successor to Pope Pius X, who had died in the Vatican on 20 August 1914.

With Europe facing World War I, whoever was selected would face the difficulty of leading the Holy See through the war to end all wars, in which Catholic Belgium and France were attacked by Protestant Germany, which was supported by Catholic Austria while the Protestant United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland (including Catholic Ireland) and Russian Orthodox Russia sided with France. Critics wondered whether the Holy See should remain neutral or whether it should assume a position of moral leadership by casting public judgments on the behaviour of the various combatants.

The conclave brought together cardinals from the combatant nations, including Károly Hornig from Austria-Hungary, Louis Luçon from France, Felix von Hartmann from Germany and two from the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, Francis Bourne and Michael Logue .

After the lying-in-state and funeral of the popular but controversial Pope Pius X, cardinals assembled for the conclave at the end of August 1914. One major difference with earlier conclaves was that this time no secular monarch claimed a veto over whomever the cardinals could select as pope, as a result of legislation promulgated by Pius X, that established that whosoever attempted to introduce a veto in the conclave would incur automatic excommunication. For the first time in centuries the cardinals alone would make the choice.