The conclave that elected Pope John Paul II (Karol Wojtyła, 1920-2005) was held from 14 to 16 October 1978 and lasted 3 days

The conclave that elected Pope John Paul II (Karol Wojtyła, 1920-2005) was held from 14 to 16 October 1978 and lasted 3 days. The election was concluded on the eighth ballot.

The conclave that elected Pope Benedict XVI (Joseph Alois Ratzinger, 1927-2022) in 2005 lasted only a single day: it began and ended on 18 April 2005.

The conclave at which Francis I (Jorge Mario Bergoglio, 1936-2025) was elected Pope took place on 13 March 2013. The election was held as an ordinary conclave following the abdication of Benedict XVI, and it lasted about 2 days. In that time 5 rounds of voting were held.

The longest conclave in history lasted more than two years, from November 1268 to September 1271 (about 1,000 days). It was held in the city of Viterbo and ended with the election of Pope Gregory X. This protracted conclave gave rise to the institution of the conclave with restrictions on the cardinals, in order to speed up elections.

The conclave of 1314-1316 was also exceptionally long, lasting more than two years (from 1 May 1314 to 7 August 1316), and ended with the election of John XXII.

In later centuries the longest conclaves lasted several months; in 1740, for instance, the conclave lasted 181 days (about six months).

The longest conclave of the twentieth century was the conclave of 1939, which lasted a mere 2 days, from 1 to 2 March 1939, and ended with the election of Pius XII.