Something that happens very rarely, almost never. Used to describe an extremely infrequent event.
Few events in medieval and early modern Italian society were as rare and as significant as the death of a reigning pope. The papacy, with its vast political, spiritual, and economic influence over the Italian peninsula and beyond, made papal succession a moment of extraordinary upheaval and uncertainty. Since popes were typically elderly men elected for life, their deaths were genuinely rare events — sometimes separated by decades — and each one triggered a period of interregnum, political maneuvering, and social anxiety. The Italian people, who lived within or in proximity to the Papal States for centuries, naturally used this infrequency as a benchmark for rarity. The proverb 'a ogni morte di papa' — 'at every pope's death' — therefore means 'almost never' or 'once in a blue moon.' It is recorded in written sources from at least the seventeenth century and remains in common use today, even in a secular Italy where many speakers have little connection to Catholic institutions. It is used with a note of gentle complaint or irony about something desirable that happens far too rarely.
Rooted in the rare and politically significant event of papal succession in Catholic Italy; reflects the centrality of the papacy to Italian social life for centuries.
A lazy son calling home
Mio figlio chiama a ogni morte di papa — una volta al mese se va bene.
My son calls once in a blue moon — once a month if we're lucky.
A friend who visits rarely
Vieni a trovarmi a ogni morte di papa! Abito a venti minuti da casa tua.
You come and visit me once in a blue moon! I live twenty minutes from your house.
An unreliable bus
Quel autobus passa a ogni morte di papa — inutile aspettarlo.
That bus comes once in a blue moon — pointless waiting for it.
A hard-to-please boss
Ci fa i complimenti a ogni morte di papa. Oggi ha detto 'bravo' — che giornata storica!
He compliments us once in a blue moon. Today he said 'well done' — what a historic day!