1903 conclave
| Papal conclave July–August 1903 | |
|---|---|
| Dates and location | |
| 31 July – 4 August 1903 Sistine Chapel, Apostolic Palace, Vatican Hill, Rome | |
| Key officials | |
| Dean | Luigi Oreglia di Santo Stefano |
| Sub-dean | Serafino Vannutelli |
| Camerlengo | Luigi Oreglia di Santo Stefano |
| Protopriest | José Sebastião Neto |
| Protodeacon | Aloysius Macchi |
| Secretary | Rafael Merry del Val |
| Election | |
| Electors | 62 (2 absentees) |
| Vetoed | Mariano Rampolla |
| Ballots | 7 |
| Elected pope | |
| Giuseppe Sarto Name taken: Pius X | |
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A papal conclave was held from 31 July to 4 August 1903 to elect a new pope to succeed Leo XIII, who had died on 20 July. Of the 64 eligible cardinal electors, all but two attended. On the seventh ballot, the conclave elected Cardinal Giuseppe Sarto, the patriarch of Venice. After accepting his election, he took the name Pius X.
This was the first conclave to host a representative from North America—James Gibbons, archbishop of Baltimore—and the first to incorporate a non-European born cardinal since the 1471 papal conclave that featured Cardinal Bessarion of Trebizond. Emperor Franz Joseph of Austria asserted the right claimed by certain Catholic rulers to veto a candidate for the papacy, blocking the election of the leading candidate, Cardinal Secretary of State Mariano Rampolla.