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Monthly Archives: June 2007

Can an Excommunicated Cardinal be Elected Pope?

QUESTION: The Constitution of Pope Pius XII that establishes the rules for a papal conclave says the following:
“34. No Cardinal, by pretext or reason of any excommunication, suspension, in-terdict or other ecclesiastical impediment whatsoever can be excluded in any way from the active and passive election of the Supreme Pontiff. Moreover, we suspend such censures [...]

The “Error” of Pope Nicholas I