October 1978 papal conclave October 1978 papal conclave The papal conclave of October 1978 was triggered by the death of Pope John Paul I on 28 September just 33 days after his election on 26 August. The conclave to elect John Paul I's successor began on 14 October and ended two days later on 16 October, after eight ballots. The cardinal electors elected Cardinal Karol Wojtyła, Archbishop of Kraków, as the new pope. Resulting in the most recent Year of Three Popes, he accepted his election and took the pontifical name of "John Paul II". Ten days after the funeral of Pope John Paul
Pope Constantine both occasions. Constantine's predecessor Pope Sisinnius, a Syrian, was pope for only twenty days. Constantine became pope in March 708, less than two months later. Constantine was one of the many Greek popes of the Byzantine Papacy, the period during which Rome was under the rule of the Byzantine Empire and popes required the approval of the emperor for consecration as pope. The defining issue of the papacy at the time of Constantine's election was the Western rejection of the Trullan canons of the Quinisext Council. Pope John VII had been sent the canons for approval and instead had sent