15 Things Every Pope Must Give Up Forever

15 Things Every Pope Must Give Up Forever When the world watches a new pope step onto the central loggia of St. Peter's Basilica dressed in white, it sees the beginning of something — the beginning of a pontificate, the beginning of a global institution's new chapter, the beginning of one man's most consequential years. What is invisible from the square below, and what is almost never discussed in the coverage of any papal election, is what has simultaneously ended. In the moment that a cardinal accepts election as pope, a door closes behind him that will never open again. Everything that defined his previous life — his name, his nationality in the functional sense, his friendships, his freedom of movement, his personal possessions, his private opinions, his ability to simply walk outside — is either immediately surrendered or progressively lost in the first days and weeks of a pontificate.