Can an Eastern-rite Bishop be elected Pope? Is it ever likely?

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Amadeus said:
Not any man can be elected as Pope for the reasons clearly stated under UDG Chapter VII. The immediacy of ordination as a bishop, if the electee is not yet a bishop, requires that the electee must at least be a priest and unmarried. This precludes all married Catholic males (including Eastern Catholic priests who are currently married).
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Since a bishop (in all Traditions) is to be unmarried, I will go along with that part, but not necessarily the rest. There really is no requirement that the man be a priest or even a cleric for that matter, at the time of election. Nothing precludes a series of ordinations, culminating in the episcopate, prior to the installation (I’d prefer to use the standard Oriental term “enthronement” here) of the Bishop of Rome.
 
The Pope is Supreme Pontiff and Universal Pastor of the Catholic Church because he is elected as Bishop of Rome.

If the College of Cardinals should, therefore, elect THE Bishop of Rome, it necessitates that the electee prequalifies as an unmarried Catholic male and at least a priest (elevated to the cardinalate by the previous Pope granting dispensation from ordination to the episcopate) due to the requirement of immediate episcopal ordination, if he is not yet a bishop.

Otherwise, the provisions of the UDG and of the CIC and CCEO are reduced to absurdity.
 
Amadeus said:
The Pope is Supreme Pontiff and Universal Pastor of the Catholic Church because he is elected as Bishop of Rome.

If the College of Cardinals should, therefore, elect THE Bishop of Rome, it necessitates that the electee prequalifies as an unmarried Catholic male and at least a priest (elevated to the cardinalate by the previous Pope granting dispensation from ordination to the episcopate) due to the requirement of immediate episcopal ordination, if he is not yet a bishop.

Otherwise, the provisions of the UDG and of the CIC and CCEO are reduced to absurdity.
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A man could be ordained deacon, then priest, then bishop in immediate succession. Many deacons were elected directly to the papacy in the first millennium, and there have been Popes who were laymen or only in minor orders at the time of their election as Pope.
 
Amadeus said:
The Pope is Supreme Pontiff and Universal Pastor of the Catholic Church because he is elected as Bishop of Rome.

If the College of Cardinals should, therefore, elect THE Bishop of Rome, it necessitates that the electee prequalifies as an unmarried Catholic male and at least a priest (elevated to the cardinalate by the previous Pope granting dispensation from ordination to the episcopate) due to the requirement of immediate episcopal ordination, if he is not yet a bishop.

Otherwise, the provisions of the UDG and of the CIC and CCEO are reduced to absurdity.
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No, it’s not an “absurdity” at all. There’s no “requirement” that the electee be a cardinal.

Now, admittedly, this is about as likely as pigs (other than Maxwell) flying, but in theory it could happen that an unmarried layman or a deacon was duly elected. In such case, the requirement for “immediate episcopal ordination” would not in any way be violated if the person were first ordained to the deaconate and/or priesthood. He would then be “immediately” ordained to the episcopate, as in “immediately” before his enthronement as Bishop of Rome. The one firm prerequisite is that the person be a bishop when enthroned as a bishop.
 
Since we are batting hypothetical out of this world, why not go here: If a married layman were to be elected, why could he not subsequently be ordained up to the episcopate and installed? While married episcopacy is rare today and the norm, it isn’t absolute dogma that a bishop must be without a wife.
 
SyroMalankara said:
Since we are batting hypothetical out of this world, why not go here: If a married layman were to be elected, why could he not subsequently be ordained up to the episcopate and installed? While married episcopacy is rare today and the norm, it isn’t absolute dogma that a bishop must be without a wife.
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And to think they called Suor Pasqalina “la popessa” … :rotfl:
 
SyroMalankara said:
Since we are batting hypothetical out of this world, why not go here: If a married layman were to be elected, why could he not subsequently be ordained up to the episcopate and installed? While married episcopacy is rare today and the norm, it isn’t absolute dogma that a bishop must be without a wife.
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It’s one of those points where most Romans would be so shocked that they’d be fleeing the church. It’s amazing how many don’t realize St. Peter was married…
 
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