Article · Wikipedia archive · Last revised Jun 21, 2026

Lay cardinal

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, 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.

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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. source ↗

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,1 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.2

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.3

List of laymen who were created cardinals

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 orders4
Maurice of Savoy 1607 Minor orders4
Francisco Gómez Rojas de Sandoval 16185 Priest6
Ferdinand of Austria 1620 Minor orders7
Giulio Raimondo Mazzarino 1641 Minor orders
Marino Carafa di Belvedere 1801 Resigned before being ordained89
Teodolfo Mertel 1858 Deacon10

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.11

According to The New York Times, Pope Paul VI considered making the French Catholic philosopher Jacques Maritain a cardinal in 1965.12

See also

See also

References

References

  1. Cartwright, William Cornwallis (1868). On Papal Conclaves. Edinburgh: Edmonston and Douglas. p. 123. Laymen were named Cardinals only for twelve months, being bound within that period to take Deacon's orders
  2. Cartwright, William Cornwallis (1868). On Papal Conclaves. Edinburgh: Edmonston and Douglas. pp. 121–122. 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.
  3. Code of Canon Law. 1983. Canon 351 §1.
  4. Cartwright, William Cornwallis (1868). On Papal Conclaves. Edinburgh: Edmonston and Douglas. pp. 120–122.
  5. Feros, Antonio (2006). Kingship and Favoritism in the Spain of Philip III. Cambridge University Press. p. 241.
  6. "Francisco Gómez Cardinal Rojas de Sandoval". Catholic Hierarchy.
  7. Miranda, Salvador. "Consistory of July 29, 1619". The Cardinals of the Holy Roman Church. Florida International University.
  8. Miranda, Salvador. "Consistory of February 23, 1801". The Cardinals of the Holy Roman Church. Florida International University.
  9. "Mister Marino Carafa di Belvedere". Catholic Hierarchy.
  10. "Teodolfo Cardinal Mertel". Catholic Hierarchy.
  11. Code of Canon Law. 1917. Canon 232 §1.
  12. "Jacques Maritain Dies at 90". The New York Times. April 29, 1973. Retrieved April 27, 2022.