tion concerning the conclave was codified and
renewed by Pius X.'s bull, _Vacante Sede Apostolico_ (Dec. 25, 1904),
which abrogates the earlier texts, except Leo XIII.'s constitution
_Praedecessores Nostri_ (May 24, 1882), authorizing occasional
derogations in circumstances of difficulty, e.g. the death of a pope
away from Rome or an attempt to interfere with the liberty of the Sacred
College. The bull of Pius X. is rather a codification than a reform, the
principal change being the abolition of the scrutiny of accession and
the substitution of a second ordinary scrutiny during the same session.

On some occasions exceptional circumstances have given rise to
transitory measures. In 1797 and 1798 Pius VI. authorized the cardinals
to act contrary to such of the laws concerning the conclave as a
majority of them should decide not to observe, as being impossible in
practice. Similarly Pius IX., by means of various acts which remained
secret up till 1892, had taken the most minute precautions in order to
secure a free and rapid election, and to avoid all interference on the
part of the secular powers. We know that the conclaves in which Leo
XIII. and Pius X. were elected enjoyed the most complete liberty, and
the hypothetical measures foreseen by Pius IX. were not applied.

The conclave at Rome.

Until after the Great Schism the conclaves were held in various towns
outside of Rome; but since then they have all been held in Rome, with
the single exception of the conclave of Venice (1800), and in most cases
in the Vatican.

Modern procedure.

There was no place permanently established for the purpose, but
removable wooden cells were installed in the various apartments of the
palace, grouped around the Sistine chapel, in which the scrutinies took
place. The arrangements prepared in the Quirinal in 1823 did duty only
three times, and for the most recent conclaves it was necessary to
arrange an inner enclosure within the vast but irregular palace of the
Vatican. Each cardinal is accompanied by a clerk or secretary, known for
this reason as a conclavist, and by one servant only. With the officials
of the conclave, this makes about two hundred and fifty persons who
enter the conclave and have no further communication with the outer
world save by means of turning-boxes. Since 1870 the solemn ceremonies
of earlier times have naturally not been seen; for instance the
procession which used to celebrate the entry into concl