Pope Benedict XV died on January 22, 1922. Cardinals O'Connell and Dougherty arrived in Rome on February 6, only to learn that a new pope had been elected only a half-hour before. As Dougherty was leaving Rome, he was handed a decree of the Consistorial Congregation, signed by Cardinal Gaetano De Lai, one of O'Connell's friends, and dated February 25. It ordered the immediate disbanding of the NCWC.
