Papal Coronation

The Papal Coronation was a six-hour ceremony in which a new pope was crowned as head of the Roman Catholic Church and sovereign of Vatican City (and before 1870, head of state of the Papal States). A three-tiered Triple Tiara or Papal Tiara was used in the ceremony, and the new pope would take the papal oath.

Location of the ceremony

The first papal coronations took place in St. John Lateran, the pope's cathedral. However traditionally for hundreds of years papal coronations have taken place in the environs of St. Peter's Basilica, though a number of coronations took place in Avignon during the Avignon papacy. In 1800 Pope Pius VII was crowned in the crowded church of the Benedictine island monastery of San Giorgio, after his late predecessor had been forced into temporary exile during Napoleon Bonaparte's capture of Rome.

All coronations since 1800 have taken place in Rome. Pope Leo XIII was crowned in the Sistine Chapel,^{Pope Benedict XV in 1914, while Pope Pius XI was crowned at the dias in front of the High Altar in St. Peter's Basilica. Pope Pius IX, Pope Pius XII, Pope John XXIII and Pope Paul VI all were crowned in public on the balcony of the basilica, facing mass crowds assembled below in St. Peter's Square. Pius XII's coronation broke new grounds by being the first coronation to be filmed and the first coronation to be broadcast live on radio. 1939 coronation included the Prince of Piedmont as heir to the Italian throne, ex-kings Ferdinand I of Bulgaria and Alfonso XIII of Spain, the Duke of Norfolk (representing King George VI of the United Kingdom) and Irish Taoiseach Éamon de Valera, all in evening dress (white tie and tails).}