Lay cardinal

{{Short description|Layman appointed as a Catholic cardinal}}

File:Kardinal Theodulf Mertel.jpg, 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.]]

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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,{{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}} 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.{{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.}}

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.{{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].