page_title: Aeterni Patris Filius
section_title: Background
hierarchical_section_title: Aeterni Patris Filius / Background
caption_attribution_description: English: Portrait of Pope Gregorius XV
context_page_description: Aeterni Patris Filius, also called Aeterni Patris, was a bull issued by Pope Gregory XV on 15 November 1621 that regulated papal conclaves. Together with the bull Decet Romanum pontificem of 1622, it formed the canonical basis for papal elections until the 20th century. The bull brought about many reforms to the papal election system, created structured rules, and sought to decrease the influence of organized factions within the College of Cardinals during the conclave as well as decrease the influence of secular monarchs on papal elections. It established general rules for the conclave process, while the later bull Decet Romanum pontificem addressed the ceremonial aspects of papal elections.
context_section_description: Conclave reform had been a topic that most popes since Pope Julius II had been engaged in, but to little impact because most often the pope would die before being able to issue a bull containing reforms. Contemporary sources present Aeterni Patris Filius as being the culmination of reforms  started by Julius with his constitution Cum tam divino in 1505 and continued by other popes, but more recent scholarship has questioned whether there is full continuity between the various conclave reform efforts.
  Gregory sought wide input from the reforms, and heard arguments from Robert Bellarmine and Federico Borromeo, who advocated for an end to election by acclamation because it made it impossible to determine how many votes were cast and prevented secrecy in the elections. Other more radical reforms were suggested, including a plan where the conclave would take place in front of the deceased pope's body, and only the top six candidates from the first round could be voted on in future scrutinies with a successive candidate being dropped each day if a pope was not elected. While this plan was seen as having an advantage of lasting at most a week, Gregory ultimately rejected it as being too radical.
caption: Pope Gregory XV issued the bull
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