2005 papal conclave

Papal conclave April 2005
Dates and location
18–19 April 2005 Sistine Chapel, Apostolic Palace, Vatican City
Key officials
Dean	Joseph Ratzinger
Sub-dean	Angelo Sodano
Camerlengo	Eduardo Martínez Somalo
Protopriest	Stephen Kim Sou-hwan
Protodeacon	Jorge Medina
Secretary	Francesco Monterisi
Election
Candidates	See Papabili
Ballots	4
Elected pope
Joseph Ratzinger Name taken: Benedict XVI
← October 1978 2013 →

A papal conclave was held on 18 and 19 April 2005 to elect a new pope to succeed John Paul II, who had died on 2 April 2005. Upon the pope's death, the cardinals of the Catholic Church who were in Rome met and set a date for the beginning of the conclave. Of the 117 eligible cardinal electors, those younger than 80 years of age at the time of the death of John Paul II, all but two attended. On the fourth ballot, the conclave elected Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, the dean of the College of Cardinals and prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith. After accepting his election, he took the name Benedict XVI. Ratzinger was the first member of the Roman Curia to become pope since Pius XII in the 1939 conclave.