All Vatican elections

1958 Conclave

elected John XXIII

25–28 October 1958 · The modern conclaves · Sistine Chapel, Apostolic Palace, Vatican City

A conclave was held from 25 to 28 October 1958 to elect a pope to succeed Pius XII, who had died on 9 October 1958. Of the 53 members of the College of Cardinals, all but two attended.

Elected pope

John XXIII

Angelo Roncalli

Succeeded

Pius XII

Duration

4 days

11 ballots

Cardinal electors

51

locked in under conclave rules

Key officials

DeanEugène Tisserant
CamerlengoBenedetto Aloisi Masella

Ballot-by-ballot tallies are destroyed by design — the paper is burned in the stove whose smoke announces the result — so this entry records what the Church documents: the dates, the electors, the number of ballots where known, and the man who walked out onto the balcony.