The Papal Installation is a liturgical service of the Roman Catholic Church and its Eastern Rite for the ecclesiastical investiture of the Pope. It replaced the historical Papal Coronation after coronations fell out of favor as a form of inauguration after the Second Vatican Council. Paul VI was the last Pope to be crowned or use a tiara. The first pope to receive installation instead of coronation was Pope John Paul I. However it was Paul VI who stopped using the Papal Tiara - he wished to humble the papacy and the rest of the hierarchy by refusing to use the Papal Tiara. Pope Paul VI retired his Tiara and had given it to the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception in the City of Washington as a gift to the Roman Catholics of the United States.
Papal coronations were not entirely banned. Future popes may choose to return to the rite of Papal Coronation. Many conservative members of the Roman Catholic Church, especially those that believe that the Second Vatican Council went too far in destroying sacred institutions lasting through millennia, have openly requested for the return of the tradition of crowning popes.
There have always been papal installations throughout the history of the Roman Catholic Church, but the coronation was always its highlight. The modern Papal Installation takes place during Mass (usually in Saint Peter's Basilica) and involves the formal bestowal of the pallium, the symbol of the pope's universal jurisdiction, on the newly elected pope by the senior Cardinal Deacon.
Popes who have used or will use the Papal Installation have been Pope John Paul I, and Pope John Paul II.
Whether or not Pope Benedict XVI will be coronated is to be seen when he is formally installed as Supreme Pontiff on April 24, 2005. Benedict is considered very conservative, and may opt to reinstate the Papal Coronation.
