What are the requirements for one to be electable as a Pope?

[Snuffyspaw]

I’ve long known that an eligible candidate to the Papacy must be male and Catholic. Are there other requirements? I recently finished reading Absolute Monarchs: A History of the Papacy, and there was a section that described the indignation of the Curia that the Bishop of Constantinople was a eunuch, implying that the Bishop of Rome would never be a eunuch. Are eunuchs not eligible candidates for the Papacy? I realize that in this day and age this might be an academic question.

 

[LoyalViews]

No, all is required is to be SINGLE, (chaste and celibate), fervent in faith, Catholic and male with no binding requirements (dues, family).

 

[BlueEyedLady]

I was under the impression that eunuchs couldn’t even be priests.

 

[TheDoctor]

No, all is required is to be SINGLE, (chaste and celibate), fervent in faith, Catholic and male with no binding requirements (dues, family).

All I have every read is that one needs to be male and Catholic - I have never read anything about being single or having “binding requirements” - do you have some source material?

The only thing that crossed my mind is that a married Catholic elected Pope would need to be ordained a Priest and then Bishop and the marriage would be an impediment under current Canon Law and tradition.

This impediment, however is moot as I understand the process. Oonce the Cardinals have elected someone, the Dean of the College of Cardinals asks two questions of the elected:
“Do you freely accept your election?” If the elected replies with the word “Accepto”, his reign begins at that instant, not at the inauguration ceremony several days afterward. The Dean then asks, “By what name shall you be called?”
So, at this point our married male Catholic is Pope and as such can dispense with any portions of Canon law or tradition (note the small “t”) that would impeded his ordinations (like the age or length of education requirements).

Will never happen probably, but an interesting thought question.

 

[LoyalViews]

All I have every read is that one needs to be male and Catholic - I have never read anything about being single or having “binding requirements” - do you have some source material?

The only thing that crossed my mind is that a married Catholic elected Pope would need to be ordained a Priest and then Bishop and the marriage would be an impediment under current Canon Law and tradition.

This impediment, however is moot as I understand the process. Oonce the Cardinals have elected someone, the Dean of the College of Cardinals asks two questions of the elected:
“Do you freely accept your election?” If the elected replies with the word “Accepto”, his reign begins at that instant, not at the inauguration ceremony several days afterward. The Dean then asks, “By what name shall you be called?”
So, at this point our married male Catholic is Pope and as such can dispense with any portions of Canon law or tradition (note the small “t”) that would impeded his ordinations (like the age or length of education requirements).

Will never happen probably, but an interesting thought question.

It’s a local term, I’m sorry, they slip in without me knowing
What I mean by that is secular-legal duties that can not be dispensed.

 

[TheDoctor]

It’s a local term, I’m sorry, they slip in without me knowing
What I mean by that is secular-legal duties that can not be dispensed.

OK, no worries. A lot slips in my mind as well. I see what you were saying.

 

[bilop]

No, all is required is to be SINGLE, (chaste and celibate), fervent in faith, Catholic and male with no binding requirements (dues, family).

I imagine that College of Cardinals could even dispense with the “single”.

A married man could be ordained Bishop if he and his wife agreed to remain continent. This happened in the early Church.

God Bless

 

[ByzCathCantor]

I imagine that College of Cardinals could even dispense with the “single”.

A married man could be ordained Bishop if he and his wife agreed to remain continent. This happened in the early Church.

True in the very early Church, but certainly not true today. In the Church both East and West, bishops must be chosen from the celibate ranks. An unordained candidate for the Papacy would have to be ordained a bishop before becoming Pope. Marriage would be an impediment to ordination.

It is doubtful we would ever see any of this put to the test …

 

[ConstantineTG]

There were married Popes in the past, even a father-son Pope. But the requirement of a bishop being celibate has been placed by an Ecumenical Council since the middle of the First Millennium. I mean, yes, theoretically the Pope can change that moving forward. But if we care about our traditions and any eventual reunion with our Apostolic brethren (the Orthodox), then we wouldn’t mess with that rule.

Another rule set in place in a more recent history is that they must elect someone who is a Cardinal. Again this is a recent rule that can be changed, but it is what stands today.

 

[ConstantineTG]

I imagine that College of Cardinals could even dispense with the “single”.

A married man could be ordained Bishop if he and his wife agreed to remain continent. This happened in the early Church.

God Bless

In the Orthodox Church they can make a man a bishop if his wife passess away, or if they would agree to an Ecclesiastical Divorce. This divorce must be at the consent of both parties, and both parties must also commit to monasticism after the divorce. So the woman would also become a nun.