# The 2025 Papal Conclave **URL:** \ **Category:** Politics & Elections\ **Created:** [May 5, 2025, 5:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-2025-papal-conclave/1017913 "2025-05-05T17:40:44Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 9
**Author:** ![Babale](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/babale/32/15666_2.png) [@Babale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Babale)\ **Post date:** [May 8, 2025, 6:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-2025-papal-conclave/1017913/161 "2025-05-08T18:02:52Z")
So, an American who accepts a landed title of nobility is considered to have given up their US citizenship, right? And the Pope is the head of state of the Vatican City, does that count as a noble title? Will the new pope have to renounce US citizenship? ---
**Author:** ![eschereal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eschereal/32/18939_2.png) [@eschereal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eschereal)\ **Post date:** [May 8, 2025, 6:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-2025-papal-conclave/1017913/162 "2025-05-08T18:03:11Z")
> [@asterion](#): > > I hope the jokes **peter** out that is, uh, hilarius ---
**Author:** ![AlsoNamedBort](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alsonamedbort/32/3213_2.png) [@AlsoNamedBort](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AlsoNamedBort)\ **Post date:** [May 8, 2025, 6:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-2025-papal-conclave/1017913/163 "2025-05-08T18:03:28Z")
> [@Intergalactic\_Gladiator](#): > > Wet Iatalians and Marlort for communion. Babies will be baptized in jus with your choice of hot or sweet peppers. ---
**Author:** ![Babale](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/babale/32/15666_2.png) [@Babale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Babale)\ **Post date:** [May 8, 2025, 6:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-2025-papal-conclave/1017913/164 "2025-05-08T18:04:04Z")
> [@AlsoNamedBort](#): > > Babies will be baptized in jus with your choice of hot or sweet peppers You leave the Jews out of this! ---
**Author:** ![Saint\_Cad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/saint_cad/32/18907_2.png) [@Saint\_Cad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Saint_Cad)\ **Post date:** [May 8, 2025, 6:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-2025-papal-conclave/1017913/165 "2025-05-08T18:04:47Z")
> [@psychobunny](#): > > He has apparently been accused in the past of not being very aggressive about priests accused of sexual misconduct. I’ve read that and my impression was that at the time they were given instructions to move them on and he actually did more then most in keeping those priests away from children absence any guidance from the Vatican. ---
**Author:** ![Saint\_Cad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/saint_cad/32/18907_2.png) [@Saint\_Cad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Saint_Cad)\ **Post date:** [May 8, 2025, 6:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-2025-papal-conclave/1017913/166 "2025-05-08T18:05:15Z")
> [@Dinsdale](#): > > Just curious - what type of school/class level? High School seniors. ---
**Author:** ![Toxgoddess](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/f08c70/32.png) [@Toxgoddess](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Toxgoddess)\ **Post date:** [May 8, 2025, 6:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-2025-papal-conclave/1017913/167 "2025-05-08T18:05:35Z")
Deport him! Oh, wait… Seriously, that is an interesting question. Unclear as it has never come up before that I can recall. How many Americans have ever been heads of state of any other countries? If any, did they renounce their citizenships? ---
**Author:** ![Saint\_Cad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/saint_cad/32/18907_2.png) [@Saint\_Cad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Saint_Cad)\ **Post date:** [May 8, 2025, 6:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-2025-papal-conclave/1017913/168 "2025-05-08T18:06:24Z")
> [@Babale](#): > > So, an American who accepts a landed title of nobility is considered to have given up their US citizenship, right? You know that TONA was never ratified right? > [@Toxgoddess](#): > > Seriously, that is an interesting question. No it’s not because [it’s not a thing](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Titles_of_Nobility_Amendment). > [@Toxgoddess](#): > > Unclear as it has never come up before that I can recall. Because it was never ratified so it’s not a law. ---
**Author:** ![Babale](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/babale/32/15666_2.png) [@Babale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Babale)\ **Post date:** [May 8, 2025, 6:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-2025-papal-conclave/1017913/169 "2025-05-08T18:06:58Z")
> [@Toxgoddess](#): > > Deport him! Oh, wait… He’s voluntarily self-deporting to the Vatican. Does that mean Trump owes him $1,000? ---
**Author:** ![pjd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pjd/32/3009_2.png) [@pjd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pjd)\ **Post date:** [May 8, 2025, 6:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-2025-papal-conclave/1017913/170 "2025-05-08T18:10:20Z")
iswydt eta: and i see i’m not the first. ---
**Author:** ![Babale](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/babale/32/15666_2.png) [@Babale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Babale)\ **Post date:** [May 8, 2025, 6:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-2025-papal-conclave/1017913/171 "2025-05-08T18:19:21Z")
> [@Saint\_Cad](#): > > You know that TONA was never ratified right? Fair, but someone with a noble title still can’t hold office in the US, right? So the question of whether the Papacy is a Noble Title still matters. ---
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [May 8, 2025, 6:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-2025-papal-conclave/1017913/172 "2025-05-08T18:21:12Z")
The [New York Times](https://www.nytimes.com/2025/05/02/world/americas/pope-candidate-cardinal-robert-francis-prevost.html) wrote a week ago: > Given Cardinal Prevost’s international experience, knowledge of the United States and work inside the Vatican hierarchy, said Marco Politi, a veteran Vatican analyst in Rome, “if he were not American, this would make him automatically a papabile, certainly.” And this: > The cardinal understands that the center of the Roman Catholic Church “is not in the United States or the North Atlantic,” said Raúl E. Zegarra, assistant professor of Catholic theological studies at Harvard Divinity School. And also this: > In a 2012 address to bishops, he lamented that Western news media and popular culture fostered “sympathy for beliefs and practices that are at odds with the gospel.” He cited the “homosexual lifestyle” and “alternative families comprised of same-sex partners and their adopted children.” Wait and see. ---
**Author:** ![Saint\_Cad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/saint_cad/32/18907_2.png) [@Saint\_Cad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Saint_Cad)\ **Post date:** [May 8, 2025, 6:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-2025-papal-conclave/1017913/173 "2025-05-08T18:28:11Z")
> [@Babale](#): > > Fair, but someone with a noble title still can’t hold office in the US, right? So the question of whether the Papacy is a Noble Title still matters. Ok, first what US office does Robert Prevost hold? Second, it applies only when holding office. So Prince Harry could hold any office he is eligible for since he received his title before that. Third, Congress can approve the receiving of a title for someone holding an office. Fourth, they don’t lose their citizenship. I assume they can be removed from office if they accept. Here is the real law. > No title of nobility shall be granted by the United States: and no person holding any office of profit or trust under them, shall, without the consent of the Congress, accept of any present, emolument, office, or title, of any kind whatever, from any king, prince, or foreign state. As you can see, it was made to prevent a foreign governments from bribing our officials with titles or with burbles & baubles ---
**Author:** ![Babale](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/babale/32/15666_2.png) [@Babale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Babale)\ **Post date:** [May 8, 2025, 6:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-2025-papal-conclave/1017913/174 "2025-05-08T18:31:06Z")
> [@Saint\_Cad](#): > > Ok, first what US office does Robert Prevost hold? > Second, it applies only when holding office. So Prince Harry could hold any office he is eligible for since he received his title before that. > Third, Congress can approve the receiving of a title for someone holding an office. > Fourth, they don’t lose their citizenship. I assume they can be removed from office if they accept. Consider me chastened for thinking it would be humorous if a half remembered obscure bit of legal lore that never comes up would actually come up, in some tangential way. I will never attempt to joke about the incredibly serious matter that is The Law ever again, and will flagellate my back forty times with a lash to atone for my sin. ---
**Author:** ![FinsToTheLeft](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/finstotheleft/32/2930_2.png) [@FinsToTheLeft](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FinsToTheLeft)\ **Post date:** [May 8, 2025, 6:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-2025-papal-conclave/1017913/175 "2025-05-08T18:34:25Z")
> [@Toxgoddess](#): > > How many Americans have ever been heads of state of any other countries? If any, did they renounce their citizenships? Boris Johnson was a natural born US citizen, born in New York City to British parents. According to Wikipedia, he renounced it in 2016. ---
**Author:** ![Toxgoddess](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/f08c70/32.png) [@Toxgoddess](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Toxgoddess)\ **Post date:** [May 8, 2025, 6:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-2025-papal-conclave/1017913/176 "2025-05-08T18:35:19Z")
Interesting, did not know that. ---
**Author:** ![Babale](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/babale/32/15666_2.png) [@Babale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Babale)\ **Post date:** [May 8, 2025, 6:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-2025-papal-conclave/1017913/177 "2025-05-08T18:37:10Z")
So was Netanyahu (though he’s not a head of state). ---
**Author:** ![Aspenglow](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aspenglow/32/76_2.png) [@Aspenglow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Aspenglow)\ **Post date:** [May 8, 2025, 6:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-2025-papal-conclave/1017913/178 "2025-05-08T18:37:48Z")
Moderating: > [@Babale](#): > > Consider me chastened for thinking it would be humorous if a half remembered obscure bit of legal lore that never comes up would actually come up, in some tangential way. I will never attempt to joke about the incredibly serious matter that is The Law ever again, and will flagellate my back forty times with a lash to atone for my sin. This post serves no purpose other than to be a jerk. You get modded for this often. Dial it back, a lot, or next time, suffer a warning. ---
**Author:** ![Dinsdale](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/97f17d/32.png) [@Dinsdale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dinsdale)\ **Post date:** [May 8, 2025, 6:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-2025-papal-conclave/1017913/179 "2025-05-08T18:41:44Z")
> [@Saint\_Cad](#): > > High School seniors. Public HS? What class? I could easily imagine it in some kind of modern world history-type class. Other subjects/home room/study hall - not so much. ---
**Author:** ![ThelmaLou](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thelmalou/32/390_2.png) [@ThelmaLou](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ThelmaLou)\ **Post date:** [May 8, 2025, 6:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-2025-papal-conclave/1017913/180 "2025-05-08T18:43:28Z")
> [@Toxgoddess](#): > > How many Americans have ever been heads of state of any other countries? If any, did they renounce their citizenships? I don’t know how many, but Grace Kelly did not give up her American citizenship. > **[Grace Kelly: The American Princess - Royal Central](https://royalcentral.co.uk/europe/monaco/grace-kelly-the-american-princess-61388/)** > > Grace Patricia Kelly was born on 12 November 1929 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. She was well-known as an actress, starring in films like Dial M for Murder, To Catch a Thief and High Society. She became the... [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-2025-papal-conclave/1017913.md?page=8) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-2025-papal-conclave/1017913.md?page=10)