Can a Eastern Catholic cardinal become Pope?

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Could any Catholic priest be elected pope?

Could even a lay Catholic be elected Pope. And ordained at the same time?
 
Ammi said:
Could any Catholic priest be elected pope?

Could even a lay Catholic be elected Pope. And ordained at the same time?
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Any male Catholic. Thos who are not bishops become Pope upon being consecrated as a bishop.

Of course, the chance of a non-cardinal becooming pope is very small. If anyoen else were considered for the papacy, they would probably be first placed in another diocese and made a cardinal. It is hard to imagine that being bypassed.

The last non Cardinal to have a legitimate chance to become pope was probably Montini in 1958, when John XXIII was elected. Pius XII had not made him a cardinal, had not made anyone a cardinal for a few years. Montini was a natural for the papacy, and was elected 5 years later to be Paul VI.
 
George720 said:
How many Eastern Rite Clergy have been Cardinals?
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in the first few centuries, it was common to import an eastern for the Bishop of Rome. I don’t think it’s happened since then, let alone since the schism.
 
dochawk said:
in the first few centuries, it was common to import an eastern for the Bishop of Rome. I don’t think it’s happened since then, let alone since the schism.
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That was pretty much my take on it as well…

In the early 1900s the EC’s were not at all well regarded by the Latin Rite clergy in the US… They were seen as second class Catholics, and especially their married priests, who were seen to be almost dirty… That seems now to be passing, thanks be to God… The scandals of the last 50 years removed the ‘superiority’ that had afflicted the Latin clergy over their EC brother married priests…

So that while held in higher regard these days, they still have not yet been admitted into the ranks of the Cardinals… And I could be wrong - Wrong would be joy…

geo
 
+Lubomyr Husar, Ukrainian Catholic Patriarch/Major Archbishop, who fell asleep in the Lord in 2017, was a cardinal.

While not a preferiti, certainly someone who could have been elected pope.

May his memory be eternal,
Deacon Christopher
 
Dovekin said:
Thos who are not bishops become Pope upon being consecrated as a bishop.
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This one is interesting. If the person elected is not a Bishop, the announcement of his election is only to be made after his ordination. So would he be ordained immediately in the conclave (assuming he is a Cardinal)? What if he wasn’t even a Cardinal, say a priest or deacon who is away, is he immediately summoned to the Vatican? How is the announcement postponed in that scenario?
 
Current law (updated by Pope St. John Paul II) requires episcopal orders in the man elected; so no more laity, diaconal, or priestly men are elected.

When that was the case in the past, the man was immediately ordained to the episcopate, at which time he became the pope.

Deacon Christopher
 
???

From JPII’s Motu Proprio:
  1. After his acceptance, the person elected, if he has already received episcopal ordination, is >immediately Bishop of the Church of Rome, true Pope and Head of the College of Bishops. He thus acquires and can exercise full and supreme power over the universal Church.

    If the person elected is not already a Bishop, he shall immediately be ordained Bishop.
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if the person elected is not already a Bishop, homage is paid to him and the announcement of his election is made only after he has been solemnly ordained Bishop.
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There are no cardinals who are not bishops that are of voting age.

The cardinals who were priests when appointed cardinals (eg Avery Dulles) were granted exceptions to episcopal consecration, and were above voting age, or very near it.

Roberto Tucci was a cardinal (and a priest) for only two months before turning 80.

Although it is theoretically possible for someone to be elected that is not in the conclave, this just wouldn’t happen in the modern election method of choosing the pope.

Deacon Christopher
 
No, it’s just not occurred in modern time.

I don’t believe it’s ever occurred since the introduction of the voting conclave system we are familiar with.

Before the current method, there were popes chosen that were deacons, even.

Although the deacons of Rome during that period were the closest thing to what modern cardinals are.

Pope St. Gregory the Great, for example.

So, to the original post, an Eastern bishop, to be elected pope, really would need to be a cardinal of voting age (that is, in the conclave during the vote). Like Lubomyr Husar, mentioned in a previous post.

Deacon Christopher
 
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As I said in my note, the last time a non-cardinal was considered probably was Abp Montini in 1958. John XXIII made him a cardinal, and he became Paul VI at the next election.

John XXIII changed the law so that all cardinals would be bishops, updating 1917 Code that they had to be priests. Before that, even laymen could be cardinals. So the instruction to immediately ordain non bishops was more relevant. Thomas Reese goes into this in one of his books, I think I am remembering correctly.

Benedict and Francis have both updated the rules put in place by JP2, but not in a way pertinent to this discussion.
 
Diaconia said:
While not a preferiti , certainly someone who could have been elected pope.
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many eastern primates are offered cardinals’ hats these days pretty much automatically . . . it is a good sign that many are now declining this western honor . . .
tafan2 said:
is he immediately summoned to the Vatican?
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I was just elected WHAT??? 😱😱😱

btw, there’s a wonderfully silly and great movie from about three decades ago called, “The Pope Must DieT”, which begins with the mafia attempting to interfere in the papal election, but the nearly deaf secretary mis-transcrbing the name to that of a bumbling rural priest who ends up installed . . .
Diaconia said:
Before the current method, there were popes chosen that were deacons, even.

Although the deacons of Rome during that period were the closest thing to what modern cardinals are.
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I seem to recall that for something like seven hundred years, with a single exception, the archdeacon of Rome was selected . . .
 
It is definitely possible, but because of sheer numbers of Latin Catholics, it’s not probable. I would love to see an Eastern Catholic Pope, but, I’m curious what that would do with ecumenism with the Orthodox
 
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