August 1978 Conclave
elected John Paul I25–26 August 1978 · The modern conclaves · Sistine Chapel, Apostolic Palace, Vatican City
A conclave was held on 25 and 26 August 1978 to elect a new pope to succeed Paul VI, who had died on 6 August 1978. Of the 114 eligible cardinal electors, all but three attended.
Elected pope
John Paul I
Albino Luciani
Succeeded
Paul VI
Duration
2 days
4 ballots
Cardinal electors
111
locked in under conclave rules
Key officials
| Dean | Carlo Confalonieri |
| Camerlengo | Jean-Marie Villot |
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.