Can the Pope Get Married? It Wouldn’t Be the First Time...

In the early days of Christianity, priests & popes were allowed to get married. Have the rules changed? 

 

As nearly 1.4 billion Catholics around the world celebrate the naming of the new Pope Leo XIV, many people are suddenly very curious about the requirements to become a Pope. Common questions range from whether the Pope gets paid – yes, a monthly stipend – to if he must speak Italian – it helps! – to whether a Pope can marry – no, yes, maybe? 

 

This last one – “Can Popes be married?” – is one of the more confusing questions to answer. The rules on marriage have changed for Catholic clergy over time, or at least the accepted norms and expectations around marriage have changed. But only sometimes, and only for some clergy.

 

(See what we mean? Confusing.)

|* ordination-button *|

Since the death of Pope Francis on April 21, 2025, and the election of Pope Leo XIV on May 8, 2025 (pictured above), Catholics and non-Catholics around the world are suddenly asking a lot of questions about what it means to be Pope. Viewership of the 2024 film Conclave has increased nearly 283% in the past month, and Google searches for all things Pope have approached all time highs in recent days. One of the most commonly asked questions? Whether or not a Pope can get married.  (Image: Edgar Beltrán / The Pillar, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons)

 

 

First, a Quick Look at The Hierarchy of the Catholic Church 

 

Before we get to the marriage question, it helps to know a little about the Catholic Church hierarchy and its clergy. In general, there are six levels to the clergy, which individuals can be ‘promoted’ through: 

 

• Deacon, who is in the last year of training to become a priest
• Priest, either a religious or diocesan priest, who performs rites and ceremonies of the Church, and who may serve a single parish or a single religious order within the Church
• Bishop, who performs the responsibilities of the Church and governs regions called dioceses
• Archbishop, who performs the responsibilities of the Church and governs larger regions called archdiocese
• Cardinal, who is a leading bishop and participates in the Papal Conclave and Roman Curia
• Pope, the highest office, who leads the Catholic Church and serves as head of state for the Vatican City

 

This hierarchy will be important to remember in a few moments, because in the Eastern Catholic Church, deacons and priests can be married, as long as they do so before becoming ordained, but traditionally take a vow of celibacy to become a bishop. In the Roman Catholic Church, the doctrine is similar; priests can’t marry after ordination, and must take a vow of celibacy upon joining the priesthood.

 

The vast majority of Catholic clergy members don’t rise past the level of deacon or priest, and it takes an extraordinary amount of education, sacrifice, and dedication to become a Pope. For reference, in the nearly 2,000 year history of the Church, there have only been 266 popes! 

 

Many Popes have been fluent in several languages, held a doctorate in theology and other fields, and served the Church for decades before being chosen by the Conclave. The competition is fierce, and only the most pious and disciplined are chosen.

 

But it was not always this way…

 

 

The First Popes Were Kind of Rebels – and Yes, They Got Married

 

There wasn’t as much hierarchy in the early days of Christianity. This means there were fewer norms too, and that’s certainly demonstrated by the first popes! 

 

While the chronology and identity of the earliest popes is debated, it’s generally agreed that the first pope was Shimon, son of Yonah. Later known as Simon Peter, Saint Peter, and Peter the Apostle, Shimon was only a humble fisherman when Jesus named him a foundational “stone” of the church. Saint Peter’s important position would later be recognized as the Church’s first Pope. 

 

The Catholic Church grew into itself gradually, over a period of centuries, so many of today’s accepted social norms for the clergy weren’t norms at all at first. Saint Peter never earned that doctorate in theology, for example, Pope Evaristus was a Greek Jew who converted to the faith shortly before his appointment, and Pope Alexander VI bribed his way into the role and killed off his rival cardinals to ensure his power… And rumor says that at least 39 popes have been married!

 

That’s right, some sources estimate that 39 popes were married, but only a handful of these claims can be confirmed. Celibacy too was an optional choice for all clergy for nearly a thousand years, and it was once very common for priests and bishops to marry, openly father children in and outside of marriage, and even maintain mistresses. 

 

The list of popes that were married has a few notable names, including:

 

• Saint Peter, the first pope was married and had children
• Pope Felix III, who was a married father and widowed before becoming pope 
• Pope Adrian II, who was married when he was elected pope and lived with his wife and daughter in the Apostolic Palace of the Lateran in Rome

 

Unmarried popes with children were fairly common, too, including: 

 

• Pope Julius II, was unmarried and fathered three daughters
• Pope Paul III, was unmarried and fathered four children
• Pope Sergius III, who was unmarried and was accused of being the father to an illegitimate son who would later become a pope himself, Pope John XI

 

Which brings us back to the question of the day…

 

 

An illustrated portrait of the last married pope, Pope Adrian II (or Hadrianus II, in Latin) (Image / cropped: Municipal Library of Trento, CC0, via Wikimedia Commons)

|* custom-button, "https://theamm.org/store/products/the-book-of-wedding-vows-and-ceremonies", "THE BOOK OF WEDDING VOWS & CEREMONIES" *|

 

Can the Pope Marry (Under the Current Catholic Church Rules)? 

 

No, a pope cannot get married under the current Catholic Church rules.

 

But, yes, it is still technically possible for a pope to be married when elected to the papal office, if he marries before he’s ordained. This is incredibly unlikely, but here’s how it might happen:

 

Remember our crash course in Catholic hierarchy earlier? For this rare case to happen, a priest could marry before he became ordained, and be elected pope without first being consecrated as a bishop. The last time a priest was elected pope was in 1513, when Leo X became Pope. He was ordained a priest on March 15, consecrated as bishop of Rome on March 17, and became pope on March 19. Because a bishop’s vow of celibacy is based on tradition and not forbidden by doctrine, the pontiff-elect could decline the vow at consecration, and remain married past his coronation – becoming a married Pope! 

 

So, maybe a Pope could already be married when he's elected, but he couldn’t get married afterward. Make sense? 

 

Either way, it hasn’t come up for a long time. The last married pope was Pope Adrian II, who was married during his term from 867 to 872. That was 1,153 years ago! 

 

---

 

Catholic Wedding Ideas & Inspiration

 

• A Catholic Ordination Controversy Underscores the Importance of Online Ordination
   
• Traditional Catholic Wedding Ceremony Script
   
• Catholic Wedding Readings for Your Ceremony (& How to Include Them)
   
• Catholic Inspired LGBTQ+ Inclusive Wedding Ceremony Script
   

---