The papal conclave of 1914 was convened to elect a pope, the leader of the Catholic Church, to succeed Pope Pius X following his death on 20 August 1914.
Of the 65 members of the College of Cardinals at the time of Pius X's death, 57 participated in the subsequent conclave. William Henry O'Connell and James Gibbons arrived too late from the United States, as did Louis-Nazaire Bégin from Quebec. Sebastiano Martinelli, Franziskus von Sales Bauer, Kolos Ferenc Vaszary, Giuseppe Antonio Ermenegildo Prisco, and François-Virgile Dubillard were too ill or too frail.
The cardinal electors entered the Sistine Chapel to begin the conclave on 31 August 1914. On 3 September, after ten ballots over four days, they elected Cardinal Giacomo della Chiesa, the archbishop of Bologna, who took the papal name Benedict XV.
Cardinal electors The data below are as of 20 August 1914, the date on which the Holy See became vacant. Cardinals belonging to institutes of consecrated life or to societies of apostolic life are indicated by the relevant post-nominal letters.
Rank Name Country Born Order Consistory Office 1 Serafino Vannutelli Italy (age ) CB Leo XIII Prefect of the Congregation of Ceremonies, Major Penitentiary of the Sacred Apostolic Penitentiary (Dean) 2 Antonio Agliardi Italy (age ) CB Leo XIII Chancellor of the Apostolic Chancery (Vice-Dean) 3 Vincenzo Vannutelli Italy (age ) CB Leo XIII Prefect of the Supreme Tribunal of the Apostolic Signatura, Archpriest of Santa Maria Maggiore 4 Francesco di Paola Cassetta Italy (age ) CB Leo XIII Prefect of the Sacred Congregation of the Council, Archivist of the Vatican Secret Archive, Librarian of the Vatican Library 5 Gaetano de Lai Italy (age ) CB Pius X Secretary of the Sacred Consistorial Congregation 6 Diomede Falconio Italy (age ) CB Pius X Apostolic Delegate Emeritus to the United States 7 José Sebastião de Almeida Neto Portugal (age ) CP Leo XIII Patriarch Emeritus of Lisbon (Protopriest) 8 Angelo Di Pietro Italy (age ) CP Leo XIII Datary of His Holiness of the Apostolic Dataria 9 Michael Logue United Kingdom (age ) CP Leo XIII Archbishop of Armagh 10 Andrea Carlo Ferrari Italy (age ) CP Leo XIII Archbishop of Milan 11 Girolamo Maria Gotti Italy (age ) CP Leo XIII Prefect of the Sacred Congregation of the Propagation of the Faith 12 Domenico Ferrata Italy (age ) CP Leo XIII Archpriest of Archbasilica of Saint John Lateran, Secretary of the Supreme Sacred Congregation of the Holy Office 13 José María Martín de Herrera y de la Iglesia Spain (age ) CP Leo XIII Archbishop of Santiago de Compostela 14 Giuseppe Francica-Nava di Bontifé Spain (age ) CP Leo XIII Archbishop of Catania 15 Agostino Richelmy Italy (age ) CP Leo XIII Archbishop of Turin 16 Lev Skrbenský z Hříště Austria-Hungary (age ) CP Leo XIII Archbishop of Prague 17 Giulio Boschi Italy (age ) CP Leo XIII Archbishop of Ferrara 18 Bartolomeo Bacilieri Italy (age ) CP Leo XIII Bishop of Verona 19 Rafael Merry del Val Spain (age ) CP Pius X Vatican Secretary of State 20 Joaquim Arcoverde de Albuquerque Cavalcanti Brazil (age ) CP Pius X Archbishop of São Sebastião de Rio de Janeiro 21 Aristide Cavallari Italy (age ) CP Pius X Patriarch of Venice 22 Aristide Rinaldini Italy (age ) CP Pius X Camerlengo Emeritus of the College of Cardinals 23 Benedetto Lorenzelli Italy (age ) CP Pius X Prefect of the Congregation for Catholic Studies 24 Pietro Maffi Italy (age ) CP Pius X Archbishop of Pisa 25 Alessandro Lualdi Italy (age ) CP Pius X Archbishop of Palermo 26 Désiré-Joseph Mercier Belgium (age ) CP Pius X Archbishop of Mechelen 27 Pietro Gasparri Italy (age ) CP Pius X Camerlengo of the College of Cardinals 28 Louis-Henri-Joseph Luçon France (age ) CP Pius X Archbishop of Reims 29 Pierre Andrieu France (age ) CP Pius X Archbishop of Bordeaux 30 António Mendes Belo Portugal (age ) CP Pius X Patriarch of Lisbon 31 José Cos y Macho Spain (age ) CP Pius X Archbishop of Valladolid 32 Antonio Vico Italy (age ) CP Pius X Apostolic Nuncio Emeritus to Spain 33 Gennaro Granito Pignatelli di Belmonte Italy (age ) CP Pius X Apostolic Nuncio Emeritus to Austria-Hungary 34 John Murphy Farley United States (age ) CP Pius X Archbishop of New York 35 Francis Bourne United Kingdom (age ) CP Pius X Archbishop of Westminster 36 Léon-Adolphe Amette France (age ) CP Pius X Archbishop of Paris 37 Enrique Almaraz y Santos Spain (age ) CP Pius X Archbishop of Seville 38 François de Rovérié de Cabrières France (age ) CP Pius X Bishop of Montpellier 39 Basilio Pompili Italy (age ) CP Pius X Vicar General of Rome 40 Károly Hornig Austria-Hungary (age ) CP Pius X Bishop of Veszprém 41 Victoriano Guisasola y Menendez Spain (age ) CP Pius X Archbishop of Toledo 42 Domenico Serafini Italy (age ) CP Pius X Assessor Emeritus of the Supreme 43 Giacomo della Chiesa Italy (age ) CP Pius X Archbishop of Bologna 44 János Csernoch Austria-Hungary (age ) CP Pius X Archbishop of Esztergom 45 Franziskus von Bettinger Germany (age ) CP Pius X Archbishop of Munich and Freising 46 Hector Sévin France (age ) CP Pius X Archbishop of Lyon 47 Felix von Hartmann Germany (age ) CP Pius X Archbishop of Cologne 48 Friedrich Gustav Piffl Austria-Hungary (age ) CP Pius X Archbishop of Vienna 49 Francesco Salesio Della Volpe Italy (age ) CD Leo XIII Camerlengo of the Holy Roman Church, Prefect of the Sacred Congregation of the Index (Protodeacon) 50 Ottavio Cagiano de Azevedo Italy (age ) CD Pius X Prefect of the Sacred Congregation of Religious 51 Gaetano Bisleti Italy (age ) CD Pius X Grand Prior of the Sovereign Order of Malta 52 Louis Billot France (age ) CD Pius X Cardinal Deacon of Santa Maria in Via Lata 53 Willem Marinus van Rossum Netherlands (age ) CD Pius X President of the Pontifical Commission for Biblical Studies 54 Scipione Tecchi Italy (age ) CD Pius X Assessor Emeritus of the Sacred Consistorial Congregation 55 Filippo Giustini Italy (age ) CD Pius X Secretary of the Sacred Congregation of the Sacraments 56 Michele Lega France (age ) CD Pius X Dean emeritus of the Sacred Roman Rota 57 Francis Aidan Gasquet United Kingdom (age ) CD Pius X President Emeritus of the English Benedictine Congregation
Not in attendance Rank Name Country Born Order Consistory Office Reason for absence 1 James Gibbons United States (age ) CP Leo XIII Archbishop of Baltimore Did not arrive in time 2 Kolos Ferenc Vaszary Austria-Hungary (age ) CP Leo XIII Archbishop Emeritus of Esztergom Illness 3 Giuseppe Antonio Ermenegildo Prisco Italy (age ) CP Leo XIII Archbishop of Naples Illness 4 Sebastiano Martinelli Italy (age ) CP Leo XIII Prefect of the Congregation for Sacred Rites Illness 5 Franziskus von Sales Bauer Austria-Hungary (age ) CP Pius X Archbishop of Olomouc Illness 6 William Henry O'Connell United States (age ) CP Pius X Archbishop of Boston Did not arrive in time 7 François-Virgile Dubillard France (age ) CP Pius X Archbishop of Chambéry Illness 8 Louis-Nazaire Bégin Canada (age ) CP Pius X Archbishop of Quebec Did not arrive in time
Cardinal electors by country
+ Cardinal electors by country Country Continent Number Austria-Hungary Europe 4 Belgium Europe 1 Brazil South America 1 France Europe 6 Germany Europe 2 Italy* Europe 32 Netherlands Europe 1 Portugal Europe 2 Spain Europe 4 United Kingdom Europe 3 United States North America 1 Total 57
See also Cardinals created by Leo XIII Cardinals created by Pius X Cardinal electors for the 1903 conclave Cardinal electors for the 1922 conclave
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