Crazy, crazy question

[Lampo]

If, for whatever reason, there was only one man left alive on Earth, would he be considered Pope?

If yes, what if the only person left alive on Earth was a woman? Would she be the Church, but without a Pope and Magisterium?

Silly, I know.

 

[crystal_waters]

If, for whatever reason, there was only one man left alive on Earth, would he be considered Pope?

If yes, what if the only person left alive on Earth was a woman? Would she be the Church, but without a Pope and Magisterium?

Silly, I know.

no i dont think so…

firstly the man would have to be catholic,

secondly he would have had to work his way up from being a priest to a bishop, to an archbishop, to a cardinal then to pope…

thirdly if god wanted women to rule the church and be in important positions then wouldnt jesus have given that role to his own mother and the other women?

 

[Lainey63]

What makes you so sure they’re even Catholic?

 

[vz71]

secondly he would have had to work his way up from being a priest to a bishop, to an archbishop, to a cardinal then to pope…

The college of cardinals can elect any male catholic to be pope.
A pope does not necessarily work through some hierachy.

But if one were the last human on earth, that would preclude a college of cardinals taking a vote. So no, you would not be the default pope.

 

[Lampo]

So would the Church Militant cease to exist? Or just the hierarchical Church would cease to exist?

 

[vz71]

So would the Church Militant cease to exist? Or just the hierarchical Church would cease to exist?

I would imagine eventually the church militant and the church suffering would cease to be in favor of the church triumphant.

 

[smichhertz]

“The Church is the only one, the Roman Catholic! And if there were left upon earth but one Catholic, he would be the one, universal Church, the Catholic Church, the Church of Jesus Christ against which the gates of Hell shall never prevail.” - Blessed Anne Catherine Emmerich

Not that it holds any doctrinal weight, but just thought it was interesting. It kind of makes me wonder why she would have something like that revealed to her unless it would actually happen at one point in time.

 

[Lampo]

“The Church is the only one, the Roman Catholic! And if there were left upon earth but one Catholic, he would be the one, universal Church, the Catholic Church, the Church of Jesus Christ against which the gates of Hell shall never prevail.” - Blessed Anne Catherine Emmerich

Not that it holds any doctrinal weight, but just thought it was interesting. It kind of makes me wonder why she would have something like that revealed to her unless it would actually happen at one point in time.

Now THAT’S interesting.

 

[warpspeedpetey]

If, for whatever reason, there was only one man left alive on Earth, would he be considered Pope?

If yes, what if the only person left alive on Earth was a woman? Would she be the Church, but without a Pope and Magisterium?

Silly, I know.

Only if the Pope was the last man on earth. Which rules out the being a woman bit.

 

[Rolltide]

Wouldn’t the point be moot? If there’s only one person left on earth, the Final Judgement is clearly underway and humans would be extinct after the lifetime of the individual.

That said, while the pope can be any baptized male, he also has to be installed to the rank of bishop before he can take the title. If there is no bishop left alive to perform the sacrament of Holy Orders and the laying on of hands, this cannot happen. So, my take would be that unless the last person on earth was a bishop or archbishop, there would no longer be a pope. (There could, however, be debate over whether in such extraordinary circumstances a deacon or priest could elevate himself to the position. The College of Cardinals didn’t exist for the first thousand years of the Catholic Church.)

 

[marica_mandic]

If, for whatever reason, there was only one man left alive on Earth, would he be considered Pope?

If yes, what if the only person left alive on Earth was a woman? Would she be the Church, but without a Pope and Magisterium?

Silly, I know.

I have also thoughts about what if I am only person on Earth. All have died the only left is me.
Nothing I will wait that God call me.