In early times, the privilege of papal election was not reserved to the cardinals, and for centuries the person elected was customarily a Roman priest and never a bishop from elsewhere. To preserve apostolic succession the rite of consecrating him a bishop had to be performed by someone who was already a bishop. The rule remains that, if the person elected Pope is not yet a bishop, he is consecrated by the Dean of the College of Cardinals, the Cardinal Bishop of Ostia.
কেন একজন বিশপকে উৎসর্গ করার সেরোমোনিকে এমন একজন ব্যক্তির দ্বারা পূর্বনির্ধারিত হতে হয়েছিল, যিনি ইতিমধ্যেই একজন বিশপ ছিলেন?
To preserve apostolic succession