new internationalist

issue 244 - June 1993



...that have always intrigued you about the world will appear in this,

your section, and be answered by other readers. Please address

your answers and questions to ‘Curiosities’.

I’ve heard that part of the ceremony of Pope-making involves touching of the testicles.

If this is true, how and why did this curious custom come about?

Guy Lambert

Oxford, UK

The Roman Church, according to legend, stipulated that anyone elected Pope should prove that his genitalia were intact. To this end a special chair was fashioned that had a horseshoe-shaped seat. The Pope to be would sit on the seat and the cardinals would pass by, checking the papal procession and proclaiming: ‘testiculos habet et bene pendentes’. A loose translation being: ‘testicles he has and well-hung ones’.

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It is unclear when the custom first begun. The reason for its initiation is that according to the Law of Moses eunuchs could not enter into the sanctuary. Leviticus considered castrated animals and humans as unworthy of the sacrifice, both in a literal and a religious sense.

Richard Riddle

New Barnet, UK

This information from The First Sex by Elizabeth Gould Davis (Penguin 1971) provides an answer:



‘Joan, a handsome young English girl made her way to Athens disguised as a monk... armed with a degree in philosophy, she came to Rome where Pope Leo IV made her a cardinal. Upon Leo’s death in 853 Joan was elected Pope by her fellow cardinals.

The Catholic Encyclopaedia goes on to say, “she served as Pope for two years, four months and eight days, when she was discovered to be a woman and stoned to death (she gave birth during a papal procession)”...

‘The name “John VIII, a woman from England” graced the papal list from 855 to 1601 ...(when she was)... officially declared mythical... Pope John (872-882) who is now numbered VIII was for seven centuries listed as John IX.

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‘From the time of Pope Joan, all candidates for the papacy for 700 years had to undergo a physical examination to prove their sex... (this) examination went into effect in 855... Benedict was the first of the popes to submit to the test.’

Cabby Laffy

London, UK

See Leviticus 21:16-21. Guys with crushed testicles are not good enough for God, who is not – as women already know – an equal opportunity employer.

I presume the priests do the checking to ensure that a woman in drag is not trying to sneak into the job, because a dick and nuts are essential to the holy job of being Pope and female genitalia are just not good enough.

Greg Erwin

Quebec, Canada

Has anyone heard of a vegetarian famine relief organization called VEGFAM?

If so what is their address and/or phone number?

Catherine Cawood

Bristol, UK

What are the origins and meaning of the expression ‘ethnic cleansing’? Who first used it?

Kathleen Jones

Bishops Castle, UK

I’ve recently discovered loo roll made from cotton which is so soft I find it difficult to believe that I can use it with a clear conscience.Can anyone advise me whether it’s likely to have been produced in circumstances that are environmentally friendly and politically correct?

Jenny Viseck

London, UK

If you have any questions or answers please send them to Curiosities,

New Internationalist, 55 Rectory Road, Oxford OX4 1BW, UK,

or to your local NI office (click here for addresses).