During the persecution it proved impossible to elect a successor, and the papal seat remained vacant for a year. During this period the church was governed by several priests, including Novatian. However, when Decius left Rome to fight the invading Goths, the Roman clergy chose a new bishop. In the fourteen months without a pope, the leading candidate, Moses, had died under the persecution. Novatian believed that he would be elected; however, the more moderate Cornelius was unwillingly elected the twenty-first pope in March 251.