The conclave of 1903 was convened to elect a pope, the leader of the Catholic Church, to succeed Pope Leo XIII following his death on 20 July 1903.
Of the 64 members of the College of Cardinals at the time of Leo XIII's death, 62 participated in the subsequent conclave, the largest number to enter a conclave up until that time. Francis Patrick Moran arrived after the new pope had been elected, while Michelangelo Celesia was unable to participate due to ill health.
Of the 62 attending electors, 6 were cardinal bishops, 48 were cardinal priests, and 8 were cardinal deacons. Only the Dean, Luigi Oreglia di Santo Stefano, was a creation of Pope Pius IX, with the remaining 61 cardinals having been elevated by his successor Pope Leo XIII.
The oldest cardinal elector in the conclave was François-Marie-Benjamin Richard de la Vergne, at the age of 84, and the youngest was Lev Skrbenský z Hříště, at the age of 40.
This was the first conclave to host a representative from North America—James Gibbons, Archbishop of Baltimore—and the first to incorporate a non-European born cardinal since the 1471 papal conclave that featured Cardinal Bessarion of Trebizond.Ellis, John Tracy. Life of James Cardinal Gibbons (abridged by Francis L. Broderick), The Bruce Publishing Company, 1963
The cardinal electors entered the Sistine Chapel to begin the conclave on 31 July 1903. On 4 August, after seven ballots over five days, they elected Cardinal Giuseppe Sarto, the Patriarch of Venice, who took the papal name Pius X.
Cardinal electors The table below is sorted by default in order of precedence of the cardinal electors, and contains information as of 20 July 1903, the date on which the Holy See became vacant. All cardinals listed were members of the Latin Church. 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 Luigi Oreglia di Santo Stefano Italy (age ) CB Pius IX Prefect of the Congregation of Ceremonies, and Camerlengo of the Apostolic Camera (Dean) 2 Serafino Vannutelli Italy (age ) CB Leo XIII Major Penitentiary of the Sacred Apostolic Penitentiary, and Secretary of the Supreme Sacred Congregation of the Holy Office (Vice-Dean) 3 Mario Mocenni Italy (age ) CB Leo XIII Substitute for General Affairs Emeritus of the Apostolic Secretariat 4 Antonio Agliardi Italy (age ) CB Leo XIII Vice-Chancellor of the Apostolic Chancery 5 Vincenzo Vannutelli Italy (age ) CB Leo XIII Prefect of the Sacred Congregation of the Council, and Archpriest of Santa Maria Maggiore 6 Francesco Satolli Italy (age ) CB Leo XIII Archpriest of Archbasilica of Saint John Lateran 7 José Sebastião de Almeida Neto Portugal (age ) CP Leo XIII Patriarch of Lisbon (Protopriest) 8 Alfonso Capecelatro di Castelpagano Italy (age ) CP Leo XIII Archbishop of Capua 9 Benoit-Marie Langénieux France (age ) CP Leo XIII Archbishop of Reims 10 James Gibbons United States (age ) CP Leo XIII Archbishop of Baltimore 11 Mariano Rampolla Italy (age ) CP Leo XIII Cardinal Secretary of State, Archpriest of the Papal Basilica of Saint Peter, and President of the Sacred Congregation of the Reverend Basilica of Saint Peter 12 François-Marie-Benjamin Richard de la Vergne France (age ) CP Leo XIII Archbishop of Paris 13 Pierre-Lambert Goossens Belgium (age ) CP Leo XIII Archbishop of Mechelen 14 Anton Joseph Gruscha Austria-Hungary (age ) CP Leo XIII Archbishop of Vienna 15 Angelo Di Pietro Italy (age ) CP Leo XIII Pro-Datary of His Holiness of the Apostolic Dataria 16 Michael Logue United Kingdom (age ) CP Leo XIII Archbishop of Armagh 17 Kolos Ferenc Vaszary Austria-Hungary (age ) CP Leo XIII Archbishop of Esztergom 18 Georg von Kopp Germany (age ) CP Leo XIII Archbishop of Breslau 19 Adolphe Perraud France (age ) CP Leo XIII Bishop of Autun 20 Victor-Lucien-Sulpice Lécot France (age ) CP Leo XIII Archbishop of Bordeaux 21 Giuseppe Sarto Italy (age ) CP Leo XIII Patriarch of Venice 22 Ciriaco María Sancha y Hervás Spain (age ) CP Leo XIII Archbishop of Toledo 23 Domenico Svampa Italy (age ) CP Leo XIII Archbishop of Bologna 24Andrea Carlo Ferrari Italy (age ) CP Leo XIII Archbishop of Milan 25 Girolamo Maria Gotti Italy (age ) CP Leo XIII Prefect of the Sacred Congregation of the Propagation of the Faith 26 Achille Manara Italy (age ) CP Leo XIII Bishop of Ancona and Numana 27 Salvador Casañas y Pagés Spain (age ) CP Leo XIII Bishop of Barcelona 28 Domenico Ferrata Italy (age ) CP Leo XIII Prefect of the Sacred Congregation of Bishops and Regulars 29 Serafino Cretoni Italy (age ) CP Leo XIII Prefect of the Sacred Congregation of Rites 30 Giuseppe Antonio Ermenegildo Prisco Italy (age ) CP Leo XIII Bishop of Naples 31 José María Martín de Herrera y de la Iglesia Spain (age ) CP Leo XIII Archbishop of Santiago de Compostela 32 Pierre-Hector Coullié France (age ) CP Leo XIII Archbishop of Lyon 33 Guillaume-Marie-Joseph Labouré France (age ) CP Leo XIII Archbishop of Rennes 34 Giovanni Battista Casali del Drago Italy (age ) CP Leo XIII Camerlengo Emeritus of the Sacred College of Cardinals 35 Francesco di Paola Cassetta Italy (age ) CP Leo XIII Camerlengo Emeritus of the Sacred College of Cardinals 36 Alessandro Sanminiatelli Zabarella Italy (age ) CP Leo XIII Camerlengo of the Sacred College of Cardinals 37 Gennaro Portanova Italy (age ) CP Leo XIII Archbishop of Reggio Calabria 38 Giuseppe Francica-Nava di Bontifé Italy (age ) CP Leo XIII Archbishop of Catania 39 François-Désiré Mathieu France (age ) CP Leo XIII Archbishop Emeritus of Toulouse 40 Pietro Respighi Italy (age ) CP Leo XIII Vicar General for the Vicariate of Rome 41 Agostino Richelmy Italy (age ) CP Leo XIII Archbishop of Turin 42 Sebastiano Martinelli Italy (age ) CP Leo XIII Apostolic Delegate Emeritus to the United States 43 Casimiro Gennari Italy (age ) CP Leo XIII Assessor Emeritus of the Commission of Roman and Universal Inquisition 44 Lev Skrbenský z Hříště Austria-Hungary (age ) CP Leo XIII Archbishop of Prague 45 Giulio Boschi Italy (age ) CP Leo XIII Archbishop of Ferrara 46 Jan Puzyna de Kosielsko Austria-Hungary (age ) CP Leo XIII Bishop of Kraków 47 Bartolomeo Bacilieri Italy (age ) CP Leo XIII Bishop of Verona 48 Carlo Nocella Italy (age ) CP Leo XIII Latin Patriarch Emeritus of Constantinople, and Secretary Emeritus of Sacred Consistorial Congregation 49 Beniamino Cavicchioni Italy (age ) CP Leo XIII Secretary of the Sacred Congregation of the Council 50 Andrea Aiuti Italy (age ) CP Leo XIII Apostolic Nuncio to Portugal 51 Emidio Taliani Italy (age ) CP Leo XIII Apostolic Nuncio to Austria-Hungary 52 Sebastián Herrero y Espinosa de los Monteros Spain (age ) CP Leo XIII Archbishop of Valencia 53 Johannes Katschthaler Austria-Hungary (age ) CP Leo XIII Archbishop of Salzburg 54 Anton Hubert Fischer Germany (age ) CP Leo XIII Archbishop of Cologne 55 Luigi Macchi Italy (age ) CD Leo XIII Prefect Emeritus of the Prefecture of the Holy Apostolic Palaces (Protodeacon) 56 Andreas Steinhuber Germany (age ) CD Leo XIII Prefect of the Sacred Congregation of the Index 57 Francesco Segna Italy (age ) CD Leo XIII Archivist of the Vatican Secret Archives 58 Raffaele Pierotti Italy (age ) CD Leo XIII Master of the Sacred Apostolic Palace Emeritus 59 Francesco Salesio Della Volpe Italy (age ) CD Leo XIII Prefect Emeritus of the Prefecture of the Holy Apostolic Palaces 60 José de Calasanz Vives y Tutó Spain (age ) CD Leo XIII Cardinal Deacon of Sant'Adriano al Foro 61 Luigi Tripepi Italy (age ) CD Leo XIII Prefect of the Sacred Congregation of Indulgences and Sacred Relics 62 Felice Cavagnis Italy (age ) CD Leo XIII Secretary Emeritus of Sacred Congregation for Extraordinary Ecclesiastical Affairs
Not in attendance Rank Name Country Born Order Consistory Office Reason for absence 1 Michelangelo Celesia Italy (age ) CP Leo XIII Archbishop of Palermo Illness 2 Francis Patrick Moran Australia (age ) CP Leo XIII Archbishop of Sydney Did not arrive in time
Cardinal electors by country
+ Cardinal electors by country Country Continent Number Austria-Hungary Europe 5 Belgium Europe 1 France Europe 7 Germany Europe 3 Italy* Europe 38 Portugal Europe 1 Spain Europe 5 United Kingdom Europe 1 United States North America 1 Total 62
See also Cardinals created by Pius IX Cardinals created by Leo XIII Cardinal electors for the 1914 conclave
Notes
References
External links Florida International University Libraries GCatholic