Choosing The Pope
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Under the terms of Pope Paul VI's motu proprio Ingravescentem Aetatem, cardinals who had reached the age of 80 before the conclave opened had no vote in papal elections. The current rules for the election of the Roman Pontiff, those in Pope John Paul II's Universi Dominici Gregis of 22 February 1996, state that cardinals who have reached the age of 80 before the day the see becomes vacant do not have a vote.
Although the canonical qualifications required of candidates for episcopacy, indicated in canon 378 of the Code of Canon Law, leave a broad field open to the cardinals, they have in fact for over six centuries consistently elected one of their own number to be Bishop of Rome. The last time they chose someone who was not a cardinal was at the 1378 election of Pope Urban VI. However, the conclave rules specify the procedures to be followed, should someone residing outside Vatican City or not yet a bishop be elected.
Read more about this topic: College Of Cardinals
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