2005 papal conclave

People watching the conclave live

The 2005 papal conclave was when cardinals met to elect a new pope following the death of Pope John Paul II on 2 April 2005. After his death, the cardinals of the Catholic Church who were in Rome met and set a date for the beginning of the conclave to elect his replacement.

After several days of private meetings attended by both cardinal electors and non-voting cardinals, the conclave began on 18 April 2005. It ended the next day after four ballots with the election of Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger as the next pope, Benedict XVI. Ratzinger himself was the dean of this conclave. It took place at the Sistine Chapel.

Voting process

 
Joseph Ratzinger was the frontrunner in all voting rounds and was elected pope on day two
 
Jorge Bergoglio always came in second place during all voting rounds. He was elected pope in 2013

Day one

Nothing is confirmed from this secret voting process and most numbers are guesses.[1]

An anonymous cardinal provided his diary to an Italian journalist in September 2005[2] and it was published in full in 2011.[3] That source gives the results of the first ballot as:[4]

Day two

Second ballot:[4]

  • Ratzinger – 65 votes
  • Bergoglio – 35 votes
  • Sodano – 4 votes
  • Tettamanzi – 2 votes
  • Biffi – 1 vote
  • Others – 8 votes

Third ballot:[4]

Fourth ballot:[4]

References

  1. Frattini, Eric (2008). L'entità (in italiano). Fazi Editore. ISBN 9788864113456. Retrieved 30 May 2018.
  2. Brunelli, Lucio (23 September 2005) (in it). I segreti del Conclave "Così vinse Ratzinger". http://www.repubblica.it/2005/i/sezioni/esteri/benedetto/segretielez/segretielez.html. Retrieved 30 May 2018. 
  3. Tornielli, Andrea (27 July 2011). "Il diario segreto dell'ultimo conclave" (in it). La Stampa. http://www.lastampa.it/2011/07/27/vaticaninsider/il-diario-segreto-dellultimo-conclave-vB9KtvKIoPNkP37nFamU2N/pagina.html. Retrieved 30 May 2018. 
  4. 4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3 Cardinal Spills Secrets from Conclave. Fox News. 23 September 2005. http://www.foxnews.com/story/2005/09/23/cardinal-spills-secrets-from-conclave/. Retrieved 16 August 2013.