BEETHOVEN 200 YEARS AGO TODAY: Wednesday, October 15, 1823

The Wiener Zeitung‘s ongoing coverage of the election of Pope Leo XII concludes today at 962, with the following report from Rome dated October 1. It is quoted in lengthy excerpts here to give a picture of the pomp and ceremony of the event, which was important in largely-Catholic Austria, especially after a month of suspense.

“It was only 40 days since Pope Pius VII died, and only 27 days since the Cardinals had locked themselves in the Conclave when on Sunday, September 28, morning by the strange inspiration of the Holy Spirit, the votes necessary for the validity of a new election came together. The cardinals assembled in the Pauline chapel of the Quirinal, and after having invoked the help of the Holy Spirit with fervent prayers, performed the voting ceremony. Once the papers had been reconnoitered with the usual careful solemnities, the canonical election arrived at the most worthy person of Cardinal Hannibal della Genga of Spoleto, born at Genga…”

“The newly elected was immediately asked by Cardinal Julius della Somaglia, Dean of the Holy Collegium, whether he would accept the supreme dignity of the church. He assented to divine will, accepted it, and took the name Leo XII. Then the Prefect of Ceremonies, Monsignor Zucché, who was present, read aloud the usual formula of the Protocol, and, as Notary of the Apostolic See, recorded the public instrument of this acceptance…”

“Then Cardinals Fabrizio Ruffo and Ercole Consalvi, first deans, took the new Pope in their midst and led him to the altar, from where, after a short prayer, they escorted him to the Sacristy, where the newly elected Pope sat down on the dedicated chair. His adjutanti di camera and fellow conclavists, with the help of the master of ceremonies, stripped off his cardinal robes and put on him the papal regalia, namely stockings, shoes embroidered with a gold cross, together with white silk undergarments, surplice, silk skirt, stole and cap. Then the stretcher was placed on the altar step, and His Holiness was served by cardinal deacons, and he was led in front of the altar itself, where he sat down on the aforementioned chair, and received the first adoration with a kiss on the hand and an embrace from the cardinals, who approached, one after the other, according to the order of the ancienne, as they were, dressed in many-colored undergarments, cloaks, bonnets, and croccia. Cardinal Bartholomeo Pacca, chamberlain of the holy Roman Church, after he had also paid adoration to the new Pope, put on him the fisherman’s ring, which was presented by His Holiness to Monsignor Zucche, to have his chosen name engraved upon it.”

“During the adoration, Cardinal Fabrizio Ruffo, first dean, having also rendered the due adoration according to the order of his position, requested from His Holiness permission to proclaim his glorious elevation to the papal dignity, whereupon he was accompanied by a master of ceremonies, who wore the papal cross. He went straight to the great box above the gate facing the Quirinal Square, which had already been opened by the masons of the Conclave, put on the cardinal beret there, and with a loud voice proclaimed the election of the new pope, which he announced in the following words: Annuncio Vobis gaudium magnum: Papam habemus Eminentissimum ac Reverendissimum Dominum Annibalem Titule Sanctae Mariae Tanstiberim, Presbyterum S. R.E. Cardinal Della Genga, qui sibi nomen imposuit Leo XII. (I bring you great joy; we have as Pope His Eminence Sr. Hannibal with the title of Holy Mary beyond the Tiber, priest of the Holy Roman Church, Cardinal della Genga, who has taken the name Leo XII.) The whole great Quirinal Square was filled with nobility of every rank and an innumerable crowd because of the news of the election of the Pope, which had spread throughout the city in a moment. They shouted aloud their applause at so worthy a new vicar of Christ. The air resounded from such frequent cries of “Viva” that one could scarcely hear the simultaneous thunder of the cannons of St. Angelo and the Swiss Guard, any more than once could hear the peal of the church bells of Rome. Cheering and exultation at this happy event spread throughout the city.”

“In the afternoon, the cardinals were verbally invited by the presidents of the papal ceremonies, and 46 of them found themselves at 9:30 p.m. in the Vatican palace, and they put on their bonnets when entering the Sistine chapel. There they took their places in the stands of their respective orders. His Holiness arrived in the semi-public train…in the Sacristy, which abuts the Sistine Chapel. Having put on the papal regalia, he entered the chapel, where, after a short prayer, he mounted the altar and, seated at the middle of the table, he received the second adoration with a kiss on the foot and a kiss on the hand under the hem of the cove and with the usual embrace. After this second adoration, Monsignor Bofondi … went with the cross in front of the altar, before which the numerous prelature and the Capellan singers, who intoned the Ecce Sacerdos magnus, led the way down the Constantine staircase of the Vatican Church. The cross followed the cardinals, after them the conservators of the Roman people, then Monsignor Bernetti, governor of Rome, who had behind him Prince Altieri, senator of Rome, and then the above-mentioned cardinals, first deacons. Last came His Holiness on the stretcher chair, surrounded by the Noble Guards and their Captains, led by Lieutenant-General Bracci, General and Chief of the Line Troops, and by the Swiss Guards….”

“After the procession had entered the Vatican Church, and taken His Holiness to the altar of the Blessed Sacrament, he climbed down from the sedan and knelt and prayed a short prayer. When the procession with the cross, accompanied by the Holy Collegium, arrived at the papal altar, His Holiness took again the infulae [the headdress hanging from the papal tiara] from the hands of His Eminence the First Deacon, and was carried on the sedan as before to the middle of the presbytery.”

“When they arrived, they prayed there with their heads covered, then mounted the altar and sat down on a red cushion in the middle. Immediately thereafter the cardinal-dean intoned the Ambrosian hymn, which the Capellan papal singers continued. While this hymn was being sung, the Cardinals, seated in their appointed chairs according to their proper order, made the third and public adoration of His Holiness.”

“After this, with the hymn also ended, the cardinal-dean intoned the usual verses and the prayer for the new pope. He climbed up the steps from the altar and, according to the usual custom, gave the numerous people who filled this large church the longed-for solemn and first apostolic blessing. The joy-drenched people wished their new spiritual and secular regent happiness and salvation for a long series of years.”

“Once this ceremony had ended, His Holiness took off the papal regalia and walked to the Sacristy, descended the stairs and got back into the carriage, accompanied by Messrs. Cardinals della Somaglia and Pacca, and took the same semi-public train with which he had arrived, with the addition of twelve grooms on foot with burning torches surrounding the coach. They retired from the Engelsburg to the papal residence in the Quirinal amid general public rejoicing and constant cannon thunder.”

“In the three days following the exaltation of His Holiness, the local princes and the Roman and foreign nobility proceeded to kiss the hand and congratulate His Holiness; they were graciously received, and dismissed with the papal blessing. In the evenings of these three days, the facades of the palaces of the diplomatic corps, the princes, the Roman and foreign nobility, as well as the houses of the bourgeoisie, were a sign of general rejoicing because of the elevation of the blessed.”

Oil portrait of Pope Leo XII by an unknown artist. Leo XII was not very popular, in the end, as he groomed a network of spies and demanded excommunication for such trivial offenses as selling a low-cut dress. He also forbade Jews to own property and gave them only a short time to sell what they owned, driving many of them out of Rome altogether. The new pope will eventually fall victim to his doctors, as he dies in 1829 shortly after bladder surgery to relieve the retention of blood from hemorrhoids.

Our next update will be for October 17th. Our feature will then continue uninterrupted through the end of the month.