Could the Pope become Chief Rabbi (or vice versa)?

A.Cameron, Newcastle uk

• · Given that I don't believe that the Pope's mother was Jewish, it would appear that the current incumbent fails the most basic of tests. I understand that there is a French cardinal who converted from Judaism to Roman Catholicism. However, assuming that he meets the other ancestral requirements, it is unlikely that as an apostate he would be accepted as Chief Rabbi. For no other reason than to be both Chief Rabbi and Pope would require the person to simultaneously believe that the messiah had come and hadn't come. In addition, to believe that the messiah was God and that the messiah wasn't God. So to answer the question simply, no.

  AB, Amstelveen Nederland

• In theory there is no reason why the Pope couldn't become Chief Rabbi, as long as he went through a full Orthodox Judaism conversion process (lasts about 3-5 years and comprises of learning both the theoretical and practical parts of Judaism, culminating in a test and immersion in a ritual bath). Once someone has converted to Judaism, they are as Jewish as anybody who has been born Jewish. Furthermore, as they have to learn a lot as part of the process, they often know more than most Jews-from-birth. Indeed, there are a couple of well known Orthodox Rabbis in the UK who were not born Jewish and converted to Judaism. The question of whether such a person could become Chief Rabbi isn't a directly "Jewish" question as Judaism intrinsically has no concept of a Chief Rabbi, even though most countries have one. The Chief Rabbi has undergone the same training as any other Rabbi, albeit perhaps in a greater depth. He is also often picked as somebody who can represent the Jewish community to the non-Jewish community, and is therefore very intelligent (Chief Rabbi Dr Jonathan Sacks studied at Cambridge). That said, it is unlikely that a convert would be appointed Chief Rabbi, if for no other reason that they have had different experiences to the vast majority of Jewry and would therefore be approaching things from a slightly different perspective to that of the people they represent.

  Benjy Arnold, London UK

• Either could become the other after a due process of conversion but it would not seem possible to fulfil the demands of the two positions simultaneously. Contrary to the suggestion above Papal infallibility is not a carte-blanche to believe in anything the incumbent wants to believe. It is limited in scope to clarification of existing beliefs of the Church and qualified by many checks and balances. It is somewhat naive to think the pope would be free to accept the totality of beliefs appropriate to a chief rabbi just because he wears the triple coin.

  Foggy, Warrington UK

• You never see them in the same room together....

  Paul McElroy, Sunbury Uk

• I hope so. If not it ruins my chances of becoming the first female (bar Pope Joan), socialist, Jewish, atheist pope!

  Anna, Leicester UK

• Of course they referred to Jesus as Rabbi; it means 'teacher.'

  Daniel, Toronto, Canada

• No. The Pope becomes Pope for life.

  Andrew, Leeds, UK

• Legally, yes (if he converts). However, this is not realistic. A former Jew would never be elected Pope and a former Christian would never be elected Chief Rabbi.

  Shlomo, Toronto, Canada