Is there any method to prevent an unbelieving pope from being elected?
Upvote:2
Canon Law specifically forbids firing the pope, because to do so would first require an objection to be raised against an act he had committed.
Canon 1372: A person who appeals from an act of the Roman Pontiff to an Ecumenical Council or to the College of Bishops, is to be punished with a censure.
Canon 1373: A person who publicly incites his or her subjects to hatred or animosity against the Apostolic See or the Ordinary because of some act of ecclesiastical authority or ministry, or who provokes the subjects to disobedience against them, is to be punished by interdict or other just penalties.
Canon 1375: Those who hinder the freedom of the ministry or of an election or of the exercise of ecclesiastical power ... may be punished with a just penalty.
Upvote:4
This is a bit like asking if the NFL has a procedure in place to prevent someone who secretly can't play football from playing as a quarterback. The answer is yes, but it's impossible to explain in full detail how this works. Here's a rough idea, though:
At the very least, the would-be pope would undergo the scrutiny of: his fellow priests, his own bishop, various parishioners, various fellow scholars, various bishops, those in the Holy See who check up on candidate bishops, priests over which he would gain authority, fellow bishops including cardinals, and the present pope. He would also spend a fair bit of his life being busy in the Church.
Then, at some unpredictable point in time, he would need to be considered not only "good enough", but the best candidate by 2/3 of the cardinals during a papal conclave. This is an event that, due to modern media coverage, can be followed by up to over a billion praying Catholics. And also non-Catholics.
The Holy Spirit surely plays no small role in all aspects of this process, a process which has been developed over a period of about 2000 years. Many of the stages are specifically aimed at attempting to ensure that the devil does not succeed in having a non-believer elected as pope.
This process was, of course, not used by Christ when he intentionally chose Judas as one of the twelve, knowing that Judas would betray him. (Judas should not to be confused with St Peter, the first pope.)
As for "firing" the pope, this is a separate question, but the short answer is: no.
More post
- 📝 How has God destroyed the wisdom of the wise?
- 📝 How do Biblical Unitarians deal with the fact that the early church accepted the divinity of Christ?
- 📝 Has Peter Lombard ever been venerated in the Catholic Church?
- 📝 Should a wife of permanent deacon candidate be a Catholic?
- 📝 How does the life of Joseph (son of Jacob) foreshadow the life of Jesus the Messiah?
- 📝 Why does St. Peter use the phraseology "killed by hanging on a tree" while referring to the crucifixion of Jesus?
- 📝 How about the outside of the Garden of Eden?
- 📝 If your the cathedral parish of your diocese has burned down, is the feast day of the patron saint still a solemnity?
- 📝 What is the earliest source containing the music for Adoro te devote?
- 📝 Which decree is the correct interpretation of Daniel 9:25?
- 📝 Request for an update on views about the Trinity doctrine as now held by the groups below
- 📝 How do Calvinists interpret 2 Peter 2:1?
- 📝 According to Creationists, what are the strongest arguments against abiogenesis?
- 📝 Why are the White Cliffs of chalk not taken out by the Flood?
- 📝 Have any prominent theologians written on what the ascension looked like?
- 📝 The difference(s) between “The Way of the Cross” by St. Francis and by St. Alphonsus?
- 📝 Why did Jesus say to his accusers "You are gods"?
- 📝 How should a Christian object to those who say Paradise may be a little boring?
- 📝 What things led to the canonization of Thomas More?
- 📝 Is Isaiah 2:9-22 about the Second Coming of Christ?
- 📝 Are there any consolidated teachings from the side of Catholic Church on Guardian Angels?
- 📝 How are the definitions of Ecumenical Council divinely inspired?
- 📝 Why is Cain afraid when he is driven away from God?
- 📝 According to the Reformers, how does the doctrine of Total Depravity result in assurance of faith?
- 📝 Has anyone heard of or seen anything that Angels can be redeemed?
- 📝 What does "saving grace" mean in Christianity?
- 📝 Acts 11:26 regarding the word Christian?
- 📝 Does the Bible give any reason as to why its content is sometimes difficult to interpret?
- 📝 What fancy word describing a church's stance on the Eucharist most closely applies to Mormonism?
- 📝 According to LDS (Mormon) theology, is friendship eternal?
Source: stackoverflow.com
Search Posts
Related post
- 📝 Is there any method to prevent an unbelieving pope from being elected?
- 📝 Is there any explanation from the early church Fathers as to why there is no record of the Apostles being baptized?
- 📝 Are there any compelling reasons to prevent a layperson from administering the bread and wine in accordance with 1 Corinthians 11:17-34?
- 📝 Is there any sense in being baptized as an adult after being baptized as an infant?
- 📝 Are there any writings from the church fathers teaching Original Sin before Augustine?
- 📝 Are there any surviving hymns from the Valdensian movement?
- 📝 Is there any evidence to support a preference for second-career pastors coming disproportionately from IT?
- 📝 Is there any biblical support for the Church to allow governments to close churches and prevent public worship?
- 📝 Is there any protestant method how to deal spiritual dryness?
- 📝 Is there any record of a visual method of prayer in the Bible?
- 📝 Is there any truth to the story that Martin Luther claimed he "bought" hell from a priest?
- 📝 Is there any scriptural support for the belief of convulsions/seizures being a sign of the Holy Spirit's presence?
- 📝 Do any prominent theologians point to Old Testament prophecies of there being two comings of the Messiah?
- 📝 Apart from Milan is there any other Roman Catholic place where Lent does not start on Ash Wednesday?
- 📝 Is there any extra-biblical evidence of tongues from the first, or even second, century?
- 📝 Is there any evidence to support Matthew's gospel account of the curtain in the Jerusalem Temple being torn in two?
- 📝 From the perspective of Catholicism are there any non-Catholic saints?
- 📝 Is there any methodology according to Bible to drive out demons from possessed people?
- 📝 Why did Pope Francis raise the minimum age for being granted 'Monsignor' from 35 to 65 years?
- 📝 Is there any evidence that some Christian leaders discourage lay Christians from reading the whole OT or NT?
- 📝 Is there any Biblical reference strictly speaking about God being timeless?
- 📝 Is Pope Francis holding and professing different views (even personally) from any of the traditional Catholic Church doctrine?
- 📝 Are there any names a Pope can’t choose?
- 📝 From the perspective of Catholicism, are there or have there been any Protestant saints?
- 📝 Are there any active Christian ministries that preach from the Jefferson Bible?
- 📝 Are there any denominations that defend their doctrines by appealing to extra-biblical evidence from the 1st/2nd century of the early Church?
- 📝 Is there any Method in Methodism that people practice?
- 📝 Are there any differences between Protestant and Catholic theology concerning the distinction between demonic possession from mental illness?
- 📝 Are there any commentaries from Trinitarians that explain why the Holy Spirit doesn't have a throne/receive worship in Revelation?
- 📝 Are there any Antipope Saints aside from Hippolytus of Rome?