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.

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

• Joseph Ratzinger – 47 votes
• Jorge Mario Bergoglio – 10 votes
• Carlo Maria Martini – 9 votes
• Camillo Ruini – 6 votes
• Angelo Sodano – 4 votes
• Oscar Maradiaga – 3 votes
• Dionigi Tettamanzi – 2 votes
• Giacomo Biffi – 1 vote
• Others – 33 votes

Day two

Second ballot:

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

Third ballot:

• Ratzinger – 72 votes
• Bergoglio – 40 votes
• Darío Castrillón Hoyos – 1 vote
• Others – 2 votes

Fourth ballot:

• Ratzinger – 84 votes
• Bergoglio – 26 votes
• Biffi – 1 vote
• Bernard Francis Law – 1 vote
• Christoph Schönborn – 1 vote
• Others – 2 votes