ITALY: MEDIEVAL TOWN OF VITERBO WHERE THE LONGEST ELECTION OF A POPE TOOK PLACE HOLDS SPECIAL MASS AHEAD OF CONCLAVE

Record ID: 648157

  • Title: ITALY: MEDIEVAL TOWN OF VITERBO WHERE THE LONGEST ELECTION OF A POPE TOOK PLACE HOLDS SPECIAL MASS AHEAD OF CONCLAVE
  • Date: 19th April 2005
  • Summary: (BN16) VITERBO, ITALY (APRIL 17, 2005) (REUTERS) 1. LAS TILT DOWN EXTERIOR VIEW OF VITERBO CATHEDRAL; LAS WINDOWS; SLV EXTERIOR OF CATHEDRAL; SCU REFLECTION OF CATHEDRAL IN PUDDLE OF WATER IN STREET (5 SHOTS) 0.22 2. SLV CATHEDRAL; MV MONSIGNOR SALVATORE DEL CIUCCO ENTERING CATHEDRAL; INTERIOR CATHEDRAL; SLV THROUGH BARRED WINDOW; SCU INSCRIPTION ON MEMORIAL PLAQUE; SCU MEMORIAL PLAQUES INSIDE CATHEDRAL (11 SHOTS) 1.08 3. SCU ARTWORK ON CHAPEL'S CEILING; PEOPLE SPEAKING TO CIUCCO INSIDE CATHEDRAL 1.23 4. (SOUNDBITE) (Italian) MONSIGNOR SALVATORE DEL CIUCCO SAYING: "Closing with a key is called "cum clave". This term was realised, "cum clave" in the days that followed, because of the Pope that was elected after this very long conclave, Gregorio X. Seeing that the cardinals that were closed inside the same venue for so long and who were trying to speed up the election for the pope were here in Viterbo, every time that a pope died, the cardinals were closed in a conclave." 2.02 5. SLV FOUNTAIN; WIDE FROM BALCONY OF RAIN; WIDE OF VITERBO CATHEDRAL; PEOPLE ENTERING CATHEDRAL (7 SHOTS) 2.29 6. (SOUNDBITE) (Italian) ANNA, 76-YEAR-OLD VISITOR TO THE CATHEDRAL, SAYING: "Yes, I would say that in a part of the city there is this appreciation of the great role which it played in the history of the church." 2.39 7. LAS TILT DOWN CEILING INSIDE CATHEDRAL; EXIT OF CATHEDRAL WITH HOLY WATER BOWL; MURALS IN CATHEDRAL; CONGREGATION SEATED# INSIDE CATHEDRAL 3.03 Initials Script is copyright Reuters Limited. All rights reserved
  • Embargoed: 4th May 2005 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: VITERBO, ITALY
  • Country: Italy
  • Reuters ID: LVAC8H51ZF77JU6QV5I5FLOKUHN3
  • Story Text: The medieval Italian town of Viterbo, where the
    longest election of a pope took place, holds a special
    mass ahead of Monday's conclave.

    On a rain-drenched Sunday afternoon (April 17, 2005), the
    medieval Italian town of Viterbo is a sleepy backwater,
    far from the pomp and ceremony, intrigue and expectation of
    the Vatican, an hour's drive south.

    But the two are linked by history. It was the people of
    Viterbo who gave birth to the term "conclave", the secret
    meeting of cardinals to choose a new pope, the latest of
    which will start in the Vatican on Monday.

    When 18 cardinals met in Viterbo in 1268 to choose a
    new pope they failed to reach a decision after more than 18
    months. So the people of the town decided to lock them in
    "cum clave", literally "with a key", to raise the pressure
    to decide.

    "In the 13th century we can say the city of Viterbo was
    the Vatican of its time," said Monsignor Salvatore del
    Ciucco, who has been a priest in the town for 52 years.

    "The term conclave was used first here because the
    cardinals meeting here, seven French and 11 Italian, could
    not reach agreement," del Ciucco told Reuters in an
    interview in the Hall of the Conclaves, the venue for five
    historic conclaves.

    When the cardinals had still not decided after a
    further year of talks, European politics and national
    loyalties were at play, the Viterbans upped the pressure
    again by stripping the roof off the hall where they were meeting.

    "Since one of the cardinals had the idea of saying
    'What do you think? That the holy spirit comes down to us
    that easily?' the Viterbans said 'Well then, we'll make it
    easier for the Holy Spirit to come down on you by removing
    the roof,'" del Ciucco said before a special prayer
    service for Monday's conclave.

    The roof has been restored many times and the only
    surviving parts of the room that will have witnessed the
    13th century conclaves are a few fragments of blue and
    gold frescoes.

    Outside stands a fountain on a terrace overlooking a
    valley, and on the other side the square in front of the
    Cathedral.

    The conclave of 1268 to 1271 took 33 months to elect
    Gregory X, who learned his lesson from the experience and
    passed a decree that future papal elections would involve
    locking up the cardinals until they made a decision.

    Around 100 townspeople made their way through the rain
    to Sunday's service at the Cathedral beside the historic
    Papal Palace, adding their prayers to those of millions of
    Catholics around the world whose eyes are on the Vatican
    this week.

    "Yes, I would say that in a part of the city there is
    this appreciation of the great role which it played in the
    history of the church," said Anna, a 76-year-old retired
    philosophy teacher from Viterbo.

    Two representatives of the town's police force appeared
    to have more earthly concerns as they stood at the back of
    the church in dress uniform waiting for the service --
    calculating how long the mayor and the bishop could be
    expected to talk. "We'll be here an hour and a half," was
    the gloomy verdict.


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