Despite what you may have seen in the recent TV series The Borgias it is not necessary to check the masculinity of the Pope. It is a commonly held myth that, following election, the Pope-elect would be made to sit in a chair with a hole cut in the seat. There would then be a visual or manual examination of the Pope-elects genitalia. If the examiner was convinced that the new Pope was a man he was supposed to have shouted “Testiculos habet et bene pendentes!†“He has testicles, and they hang well!â€
Unfortunately there is no good historical evidence that such a ceremony has ever taken place. The necessity of the test seems to rest on the legendary figure of Pope Joan; a woman supposed to have concealed her femininity and climbed the ladder of church power until she became the Pope. Since there is no good evidence for Pope Joan it seems unlikely that there would be need for such an intimate scrutiny. --
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