1939 conclave
| Papal conclave March 1939 | |
|---|---|
| Dates and location | |
| 1–2 March 1939 Sistine Chapel, Apostolic Palace, Vatican City | |
| Key officials | |
| Dean | Gennaro di Belmonte |
| Sub-dean | Donato Sbarretti |
| Camerlengo | Eugenio Pacelli |
| Protopriest | William Henry O'Connell |
| Protodeacon | Camillo Caccia Dominioni |
| Secretary | Vincenzo Santoro |
| Election | |
| Electors | 62 (list) |
| Candidates | See papabili |
| Ballots | 3 |
| Elected pope | |
| Eugenio Pacelli Name taken: Pius XII | |
A papal conclave was held on 1 and 2 March 1939 to elect a new pope to succeed Pius XI, who had died on 10 February. All 62 eligible cardinal electors attended. On the third ballot, the conclave elected Cardinal Eugenio Pacelli, the camerlengo of the Apostolic Chamber and cardinal secretary of state. After accepting his election, he took the name Pius XII.
The 1939 conclave was the shortest in the 20th century, lasting only 2 days. It was the last conclave to include all living cardinals, and the first conclave since the Middle Ages to include a cardinal from the Middle East: Cardinal Ignatius Gabriel I Tappouni of Syria.
Elected pope on his 63rd birthday, Pacelli was the first pope born in Rome since Innocent XIII in 1721 and the first member of the Curia to become pope since Leo XIII in 1878. Another Curial cardinal would not be elected pope until the 2005 conclave (with the election of Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, who then took the name Benedict XVI).