A common question regarding the upcoming conclave is who can be elected Pope? This web site offers some answers. Much is made of the fact that it doesn’t have to be one of the cardinals at the conclave, but that any man who is Catholic who can be ordained is eligible. However, that is so unlikely as to be not worth mentioning.
In theory, any man can be elected who is willing to be baptized and ordained a priest and bishop. He does not have to be at the conclave. The last noncardinal elected was Urban VI (1378). The last cardinal to be elected pope who was a priest but not a bishop was Gregory XVI (1831). Callistus III (Affonso Borgia 1455) was the last person to be elected who was not a priest. Most likely a cardinal elector will be elected, all of whom today are bishops.
I agree. The next Pope will enter the Sistine Chapel and will cast a vote.
