After what has been labelled as a significant address, discussion took place against the backdrop of the dicastery's annual plenary assembly.

The assembly focused on enhancing the liturgical formation for clergy and laity in line with the teachings of the Second Vatican Council and the Pope's recent reflections.

This year marks the 60th anniversary of the promulgation of Sacrosanctum Concilium, the Council's foundational document on the liturgy, which set the stage for sweeping reforms intended to make the Church's rituals more accessible and meaningful to the faithful worldwide.

Pope Francis used this occasion to reiterate that genuine reform of the Church is impossible without a reinvigoration of its liturgical life.

"Without liturgical reform, there is no reform of the Church" declared the Pope. He outlined a vision of a Church that engages actively with its people's spiritual and pastoral needs, bridges divisions among Christians and proclaims the Gospel with renewed vigour.

During the address, Francis spoke passionately about the importance of priests' fidelity and their relationship with the Church.

Keen to animate the Church's mission in the modern world, Francis urged the Dicastery for Divine Worship to proceed in close cooperation with other Vatican bodies, such as the Dicastery for Culture and Education.

In affirming the centrality of the liturgy to the life of the Church and as a way of encountering Christ, he says the Dicastery's focus is to ensure the liturgical life of the Church is vibrant and a unifying force for Catholics around the globe.

Liturgy and church life a single coherent unity

"At its most profound level, Sacrosanctum Concilium articulates a renewed understanding of the Church, where the liturgy of the church and the life of the baptised form a single coherent unity.

"Sacrosanctum Concilium was the first Constitution issued by the Council, not only because of the decades-long research that preceded it and the liturgical reforms of Pope St Pius X and Pope Pius XII but, most importantly, according to Pope Benedict XVI, because the liturgical life of the Church is central to the very existence of the Church.

"2,147 bishops at the Council overwhelmingly approved Sacrosanctum Concilium" Dr Joe Grayland told CathNews recently.

Source

• CNA
• CathNews

This conclave was notorious for having a leading candidate, Cardinal Mariano Rampolla del Tindaro, ruled out by outside political interference.

Cardinal Rampolla, who had been Vatican secretary of state under Pope Leo XIII, was blocked by the Austro-Hungarian Emperor Franz Josef I using an instrument called the "Jus Exclusivae".

This could be used at the time by three Catholic heads of state - the kings of Spain and France and the Holy Roman Emperor (later the Austrian emperor).

It was used 12 times between 1644, when it was instituted, and 1903.

It is believed the Emperor considered Cardinal Rampolla too liberal a candidate to be elected pope.

Pope Pius X, on the other hand, was a traditionalist who condemned modernism.

When Giuseppe Melchiorre Sarto, Patriarch of Venice, was eventually elected Pope Pius X at the conclave, he abolished the use of the veto.

Pope Pius X declared that anyone attempting to interfere in the election of a new pope would be excommunicated.

He decreed that at the start of future conclaves the cardinals must take an oath that they were not aiding any civil power in an attempt to influence the election.

On the second ballot, before the veto was presented, Cardinal Rampolla had 29 out of the 61 available conclave votes.

Cardinal Sarto, who only had 10 votes at this stage, was eventually elected on the seventh ballot.

The second ballot results were the ones shown on the auctioned ballot form.

After the auction, L'Osservatore Romano published details of all stages of voting at the 1903 conclave and the various intrigues therein relating to the veto.

Traditionally ballot papers from papal conclaves are burned to produce white or black smoke.

One of the documents sold with the voting tally form was a ballot from then Archbishop of Bologna, Domenico Svampa, voting for Sarto.

On the reverse of the form, Cardinal Svampa stated he voted for Sarto in each round, possibly to indicate that he wasn't swayed by the veto.

The papers were part of a collection of an Italian journalist who has died.

Sources

• The Telegraph
• Drewatts
• Catholic Herald
• Catholic World News
• Image: Catholic Tradition