You don’t “apply” to become a cardinal in the Catholic Church; you’re chosen by the Pope, normally after a long life of priestly and episcopal service and a strong reputation for holiness, leadership, and loyalty to the Church’s mission.

Quick Scoop: How Do You Become a Cardinal?

Think of becoming a cardinal as the Church’s version of being tapped on the shoulder for one of its highest leadership roles, not as a career you can plan in a straight line.

In practice, the path usually looks like this:

  1. Become a priest (presbyter)
    • You must be a baptized Catholic male and go through seminary formation (philosophy, theology, spiritual formation, pastoral training).
 * After years of study and discernment, you’re ordained a priest by a bishop.
  1. Build a strong reputation in ministry
    • Serve faithfully in parishes, diocesan roles, or religious orders.
 * Those who eventually rise higher are typically known for **doctrine** , morals, piety, prudence, and leadership.
  1. Often: become a bishop or archbishop
    • Most cardinals today are bishops or archbishops in charge of dioceses or important Vatican offices.
 * Bishops are themselves chosen through a quiet, confidential process involving local recommendations, a papal ambassador (the nuncio), a Vatican office, and finally the Pope’s decision.

  1. Meet the official canon law requirements
    Canon law lays out the basic minimum:

    • You must be a man,
    • “At least in the order of the presbyterate” (so, normally at least a priest),
    • “Especially outstanding for doctrine, morals, piety, and prudence in action.”
 * If you’re not already a bishop, you are normally consecrated a bishop after being made a cardinal, though the Pope can dispense from that.
  1. Be chosen personally by the Pope
    • There is no application process and no formal “promotion ladder” to cardinal.
 * The Pope is completely free to pick any Catholic man who meets the basic conditions, though in modern times he almost always chooses bishops and senior churchmen.

 * When he decides to create new cardinals, he announces a list, and at a special ceremony (a consistory) he gives them the red hat and ring.

Mini Sections: Key Details

Is there a standard “career path”?

Informally, the “typical” path looks like:

  1. Catholic boy/man senses a vocation → enters seminary.
  1. Ordained a priest → serves in parishes and diocesan roles for many years.
  1. Noticed for his teaching, pastoral leadership, and integrity.
  1. Chosen as a bishop; possibly later as an archbishop of an important diocese or head of a Vatican office.
  1. From that group, some are chosen by the Pope to be cardinals.

But it’s crucial: no one can plan or guarantee becoming a cardinal ; it depends entirely on papal choice and the needs of the Church at a given time.

Do cardinals have to be bishops?

  • Today, almost all cardinals are bishops.
  • However, canon law allows the Pope to name as cardinals men who are “at least priests,” and recent popes have occasionally done this (for example, making some elderly or special priests cardinals without making them diocesan bishops).

So: being a bishop is normal , but not an absolute doctrinal requirement; it is a discipline the Pope can dispense from.

Why does the Church have cardinals?

  • Cardinals are senior clergy who advise the Pope and lead important dioceses or Vatican departments.
  • Those under 80 also form the body that gathers in a conclave to elect a new Pope when the papal office is vacant.

Their symbolic red color signifies a willingness to defend the faith “even to the shedding of blood,” underlining that it’s meant to be a service role, not just a status symbol.

Latest/Forum-style angle

Online discussions often joke about a “career path to Pope” or “how to become a cardinal,” but Catholics themselves usually stress that these roles are callings more than ambitions. People sometimes compare it to being promoted in a company, but with two big twists:

  • Promotions are opaque, slow, and rooted in long-term reputation.
  • The final decision is personal and spiritual, resting with the Pope and framed as discernment, not corporate HR.

You’ll also see reminders (especially from Catholic sources) that technically any Catholic man could be made cardinal or even Pope, though in modern practice that’s extremely unlikely unless he’s already in the higher clergy.

Can an ordinary Catholic aim for this?

In practical terms:

  • You can discern a vocation to the priesthood and faithfully pursue seminary and ordination.
  • You cannot realistically “aim” for cardinal; that’s something entrusted to God’s providence and the Pope’s judgment, not to personal ambition.

So if someone wonders “how do you become a cardinal in the Catholic Church,” the honest answer is: become a deeply faithful priest, possibly a bishop, known for holiness and wisdom — and then, only if the Pope freely chooses you.

Information gathered from public forums or data available on the internet and portrayed here.