What are the mandatory requirements to become an electoral pope? Do you have to be a member of the clergy? Theoretically no. Here because.
Can a lay person, that is, someone who has not taken vows and has never become a priest, aspire to the leadership of the Catholic Church? The answer may surprise you, since we are used to thinking that the papal throne is reserved only for one of the cardinals participating in the conclave to elect Peter’s successor when his predecessor is deceased, or – as in the case of Benedict XVI – renounces the pontificate. Who can become Pope?At that time?
Canon law restricts the ability to enter the Sistine Chapel and vote for the Pope’s appointment. But there are only three restrictions that one must be subject to when choosing. And that doesn’t include membership in the clergy. we see
Who elects the new Pope?
As is known, on death of a pope (or on the rarest of occasions when he renounces the pontificate, as Joseph Ratzinger did in 2013) called the cardinals to attend the event conclave to elect the new head of the Catholic Church. All cardinals who have not yet reached the age of 80 at the time of taking office and also not at the time of the conclave have the right to vote.
The vote takes place in the Sistine Chapel, after some rites provided for in the ceremony, in particular the Mass “pro eligendo Pontefice” celebrated in St. Peter’s Basilica and the subsequent procession that begins in the Pauline Chapel in the Apostolic Palace. and to the Sistine.
Before taking a seat in the chapel, each cardinal swears that if he is elected he will faithfully exercise his office as pope and in any case to keep silent about everything that happens, the lessons will be said and heard. Once the last cardinal has entered, another indispensable rite is performed at the beginning of the conclave:
the extra omni. The master of liturgical celebrations utters this phrase to compel all strangers to leave the Sistine Chapel. The doors are locked with the key. Cum clave indeed.
From that moment until the appointment of the new pope, the cardinals remain completely isolated. Personnel assisting the cardinals in all duties are metal-detected to prevent them from carrying devices that could compromise confidentiality.
What are the requirements to become Pope?
There is a special passage in this strict ceremonial: the oath taken by each cardinal to faithfully exercise his office as pope, should he be elected. This suggests that some of the electors are inevitably – and as they say – destined to enter the Sistine Chapel as a cardinal and exit as a pope. In reality, this has been the case for centuries, but technically you can’t say the result is that conclave it absolutely has to be.
As mentioned, i mandatory requirements to become pope there are only three:
- be a man, ie male;
- be baptized (although it is also possible to receive baptism before the proclamation);
- be celibate.
Of course, other elements such as experience in church life, skills, age, etc. need to be evaluated as well. However, these are subjective specifications, i.e. non-binding.
Above all, this means that anyone can become pope as long as they have these three qualities. There is no need to be a cardinal, let alone a bishop or a priest: in theory, even a lay person, that is, a person who is not consecrated to the Church, can occupy the papal throne. In fact, the requirements do not include membership in the clergy, but only the masculine, celibate and baptized way of life. In practice, like the one billion three hundred thousand believers that the Catholic Church has worldwide.
If one day we find a pope who has never been made a cardinal, it would not be the first time, although we would definitely have to go back in time, to December 4th, 963 exactly. On that day Pope Leo VIII was born .still a layman, got elected. Just two days later he was ordained bishop. A case that will remain unique rather than rare?
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