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, 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.
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. Canon 351 §1.
List of laymen who were created cardinals
Name Year created cardinal Highest clerical order receivedPope Paul III1493PopePope Leo X1489PopeCharles Borromeo1560Archbishop Ferdinando I de' Medici 1562 Minor orders Maurice of Savoy 1607 Minor orders Francisco Gómez Rojas de Sandoval 1618 Priest Ferdinand of Austria 1620 Minor orders Giulio Raimondo Mazzarino 1641 Minor orders 1801 Resigned before being ordained Teodolfo Mertel 1858 Deacon
Discontinuation
In 1917, Pope Benedict XV promulgated the first edition of the Code of Canon Law, which included a provision that a man must be first ordained a priest prior to being considered for appointment as a cardinal. Canon 232 §1.
According to The New York Times, Pope Paul VI considered making the French Catholic philosopher Jacques Maritain a cardinal in 1965.
See also Crown cardinal Cardinal-Infante (disambiguation) Cardinal-nephew List of creations of cardinals
References