Pope John Paul II

The second conclave of the year

On 16 October 1978 the cardinals meeting in the Sistine Chapel elected Cardinal Karol Józef Wojtyła, Archbishop of Kraków. He accepted and took the name John Paul II, the Catholic Church’s 264th pope; he was 58.

The conclave had opened on 14 October, forced by the death of John Paul I on 28 September after a pontificate of 33 days.

From the balcony of St. Peter’s

Speaking from the central balcony, the new pope told the crowd the cardinals had called a bishop of Rome from a distant country, said he had been afraid to accept, and invited listeners to correct his Italian if he made a mistake.

He was the first Polish pope, and the first non-Italian since Adrian VI, whose pontificate ended in 1523.

What the record does not fix

The ballot count is not officially documented, because conclave voting is secret. Published accounts usually say the eighth ballot; contemporary archival material describes it as the seventh or eighth, and no vote tally should be treated as a Vatican figure.

16 October was the election and acceptance; the inaugural Mass for his ministry followed on 22 October.

The “Year of Three Popes” means Paul VI, John Paul I and John Paul II held office successively during 1978 — the first such year since 1605, not three popes at once.