Q 01/05

How many sacraments does the Catholic Church recognise?

A) Two

B) Seven

C) Fourteen

D) Forty

Answer · why

B) Seven

Seven became the settled count only in the 12th century, when Peter Lombard listed them in his theology textbook, the Sentences; earlier writers had n...

Q 02/05

What is the name of the closed assembly in which the College of Cardinals elects a new pope?

A) Synod

B) Consistory

C) Conclave

D) Curia

Answer · why

C) Conclave

Conclave comes from the Latin cum clave, 'with a key': Gregory X decreed in 1274 that the cardinal electors be locked away until they had chosen a pop...

Q 03/05

During a papal election, what colour of smoke from the Sistine Chapel chimney announces a pope has been chosen?

A) Black

B) White

C) Green

D) Grey

Answer · why

B) White

Ballots are burned after each vote. Black smoke means the ballot failed; white smoke means the Church has a new pope.

Q 04/05

What do cardinals lose the right to do at 80?

A) Vote for a pope

B) Wear red

C) Ordain priests

D) Keep their title

Answer · why

A) Vote for a pope

Vote for a pope: Paul VI ruled in 1970 that cardinals give up their ballot at 80, and he later capped the voters at 120, so the oldest cardinals now s...

Q 05/05

Which church, not St Peter's, is the pope's cathedral as Bishop of Rome?

A) Santa Maria Maggiore

B) The Archbasilica of St John Lateran

C) The Basilica of St Paul Outside the Walls

D) Sant'Andrea della Valle

Answer · why

B) The Archbasilica of St John Lateran

The Archbasilica of St John Lateran holds the pope's cathedra; popes lived in the palace beside it for about a thousand years before settling at the V...