The Conclave and the Election of the Pope. A History from the 1st to the 21st Century

The election of the bishop of Rome has a very long history. Peter’s successor was first chosen by designation, then by the clergy and the people, and only from the 11th century onward by a small number of cardinal electors who, from the mid-13th century, were locked away so that they could appoint a new pope. An electoral mechanism subject to revisions and adjustments, later joined in the modern age by secrecy, which, in a society where everything is social, has paradoxically made this singular election intriguing. The immense responsibility of the cardinals is not to choose the most pious, the most learned, or the cleverest, but the person who can exercise a ministry of unity and communion. This detailed historical work on this long trajectory studies its evolution and analyzes how conclaves functioned, especially those of the 20th century, using unpublished sources, diplomatic papers, diaries, and testimonies, including the contradictory ones of Pope Francis himself. Edizioni Marietti1820