(2 May 2025)
RESTRICTION SUMMARY:
++UPDATES HEADLINE++
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Viterbo, Italy – 29 April 2025
1. Various of Pope’s Palace in Viterbo
2. SOUNDBITE (English) Giada Zampano, The Associated Press:
++SOUNDBITE PART OVERLAID BY SHOT 1++
“We’re here in the city of Viterbo, north of Rome, which is known for being the city of popes, because a few popes were elected here instead of Rome, sometimes happened in the past. But the very well-known fact that makes this city famous around the world is that it hosted the longest conclave in the history of the Catholic Church. It lasted almost three years, which means 1,006 days, and it was in the 13th century where the cardinals were so divided they couldn’t come up with the name of the new pope for almost three years. This obliged the citizens of Viterbo to come up with some extreme measures to oblige the cardinals to get to an agreement. First, they closed the cardinals into this big room that you can see on my back in the palace of the popes with a key. And this is where the name conclave, conclave comes from, from the Latin ‘cum clave.’ Then their food was limited, it was rationed, so the cardinals got only some bread and some water for a few days, but this didn’t convince them to get to an agreement on a new pope. So, in the end, the population of Viterbo was obliged to remove part of the roof of this palace. So, the cardinals were exposed to extreme weather, to the wind, to the rain, and they were, in the end, they were obliged finally to elect this new pope, which was a compromise and was so an agreement between the opposite factions. This is why the Conclave of Viterbo is considered setting the stage for modern Conclaves and it could be considered also the first real Conclave in history.”
++ENDS ON SOUNDBITE++
STORYLINE:
The Catholic Church’s cardinals are meeting next week at the Vatican to elect the new pope in a centuries-old process called conclave.
Recent conclaves took a few days, but the longest-ever in history was nearly three years long.
It was held in Viterbo, a city north of Rome, and its citizens ended up removing the roof above the room where the cardinals were locked in, in a last-ditch effort to speed up a decision.
In the 13th century, it took almost three years — 1,006 days to be exact — to choose Pope Clement IV’s successor, making it the longest conclave in the Catholic Church’s history.
It’s also where the term conclave comes from — "under lock and key," because the cardinals were taking so long the town’s frustrated citizens locked them in the room.
The secret vote that elected Pope Gregory X lasted from November 1268 to September 1271.
It was the first example of a papal election by “compromise,” after a long struggle between two main geopolitical medieval factions — those supporting the pope and those supporting the Holy Roman Empire.
Gregory X was elected only after residents of Viterbo tore the roof off the building where the prelates were staying out of frustration, and restricted their meals to bread and water to pressure them to come to a conclusion.
AP Video shot by Isaia Montelione
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