well, why not apply to become a priest?

then you can claw your way up the ecclesiatical ladder until you reach the exalted post of cardinal.

then it becomes tricky if you want to be elected pope - however much you schmoose, you might still lose.

personally i'd like to have seen cardinal cormac murphy-o'connor ⚠️ ↗ become pope at the last election - but it wasn't to be.

[not that in the current, extremely politically correct climate, any pope could be expected to `go easy` on peds.]