Lay cardinal

{{Short description|Layman appointed as a Catholic cardinal}} [[File:Kardinal Theodulf Mertel.jpg|thumbnail|Teodolfo Mertel, the last man to have been created cardinal without first having been ordained a deacon. He was ordained to the diaconate in 1858, a few months after becoming a cardinal.]] {{Catholic Church hierarchy sidebar|Administrative and pastoral titles}} In the historical practice of the Catholic Church, a '''lay cardinal''' was a man whom the Pope appointed to the College of Cardinals while still a layman. This appointment carried with it the obligation to be ordained to a clerical order,<ref>{{cite book|title=On Papal Conclaves|first=William Cornwallis|last=Cartwright|author-link=William Cornwallis Cartwright|year=1868|publisher=Edmonston and Douglas|publication-place=Edinburgh|pages=123|quote=Laymen were named Cardinals only for twelve months, being bound within that period to take Deacon's orders}}</ref> meaning that "lay cardinal" was not a permanent state, but a term in reference to a man who was appointed cardinal prior to taking on the clerical state corresponding to that appointment.<ref>{{cite book|title=On Papal Conclaves|first=William Cornwallis|last=Cartwright|author-link=William Cornwallis Cartwright|year=1868|publisher=Edmonston and Douglas|publication-place=Edinburgh|pages=121–122|quote=In all these cases, however, it is clear that some orders had been taken; and therefore, in the strict sense of the term, these Cardinals were no longer laymen.}}</ref>

The current law of the Catholic Church is that a man must be first ordained at least a priest in order to be considered for appointment as a cardinal.<ref>{{cite book|title=Code of Canon Law|year=1983}} [https://www.vatican.va/archive/cod-iuris-canonici/eng/documents/cic_lib2-cann330-367_en.html#CHAPTER_III. Canon 351 §1].</ref>

== List of laymen who were created cardinals == {{Incomplete list|date=April 2022}}

{| class="wikitable" ! Name !! Year created cardinal !! Highest clerical order received |- |Pope Paul III |1493 |Pope |- |Pope Leo X |1489 |Pope |- |Charles Borromeo |1560 |Archbishop |- | Ferdinando I de' Medici || 1562 || Minor orders<ref name="cartwright120-122">{{cite book|title=On Papal Conclaves|first=William Cornwallis|last=Cartwright|author-link=William Cornwallis Cartwright|year=1868|publisher=Edmonston and Douglas|publication-place=Edinburgh|pages=120–122}}</ref> |- | Maurice of Savoy || 1607 || Minor orders<ref name="cartwright120-122" /> |- | Francisco Gómez Rojas de Sandoval || 1618<ref>{{cite book|title=Kingship and Favoritism in the Spain of Philip III|year=2006|first=Antonio|last=Feros|publisher=Cambridge University Press|page=241}}</ref> || Priest<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.catholic-hierarchy.org/bishop/brojsan.html|title=Francisco Gómez Cardinal Rojas de Sandoval|website=Catholic Hierarchy}}</ref> |- | Ferdinand of Austria || 1620 || Minor orders<ref>{{cite web|url=https://cardinals.fiu.edu/bios1619.htm#Austria|website=The Cardinals of the Holy Roman Church|title=Consistory of July 29, 1619|first=Salvador|last=Miranda|publisher=Florida International University}}</ref> |- | Giulio Raimondo Mazzarino || 1641 || Minor orders |- | {{ill|Marino Carafa di Belvedere|it|}} || 1801 || ''Resigned before being ordained''<ref>{{cite web|url=https://cardinals.fiu.edu/bios1728-ii.htm#Carafa|website=The Cardinals of the Holy Roman Church|title=Consistory of February 23, 1801|first=Salvador|last=Miranda|publisher=Florida International University}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.catholic-hierarchy.org/bishop/bcadb.html|title=Mister Marino Carafa di Belvedere|website=Catholic Hierarchy}}</ref> |- | Teodolfo Mertel || 1858 || Deacon<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.catholic-hierarchy.org/bishop/bmert.html|title=Teodolfo Cardinal Mertel|website=Catholic Hierarchy}}</ref> |}

== Discontinuation ==

In 1917, Pope Benedict XV promulgated the first edition of the ''Code of Canon Law'', which included a provision that a man must be first ordained a priest prior to being considered for appointment as a cardinal.<ref>{{cite book|title=Code of Canon Law|year=1917}} Canon 232 §1.</ref>

According to ''The New York Times'', Pope Paul VI considered making the French Catholic philosopher Jacques Maritain a cardinal in 1965.<ref>{{cite news |last= |first= |date=April 29, 1973 |title=Jacques Maritain Dies at 90 |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1973/04/29/archives/jacques-maritain-dies-at-90-a-powerful-mind.html |work=The New York Times |location= |access-date=April 27, 2022}}</ref>

== References == {{Reflist}}

{{College of Cardinals}} ^ Category:Lists of cardinals