In the Catholic church, it takes a cardinal to become a pope, but thanks to one NIU professor one must no longer be Catholic to become a cardinal.

In fact, all it takes to contend for the papacy these days is a $40 board game created by Dr. Stephen Haliczer, history professor emeritus.

The game, called “Vatican: Unlock the Secrets of How Men Become Pope,” simulates and illustrates varied aspects of the Catholic church, particularly the process of choosing a new pope after one dies.

Haliczer, who has taught a class on the Catholic church at NIU for 10 years and continues to teach two online courses, developed the game as an educational tool to help learn the ways of the Church.

“In some ways, the game stems from the course,” Haliczer said, adding that the game works because Church holds a certain mystique to many people.

“I think there’s a lot of curiosity about the Catholic church,” he said.

The game puts up to six people against each other as prestigious cardinals in the Church who are called to the Vatican upon the death of the pope. Through various aspects of gameplay, all based on historically accurate contexts and scenarios within the Church, one of the cardinals will win and become the next pope.

Haliczer, who conducted extensive research in advance of the game, also drew upon the collective knowledge of the NIU history department.

“The game benefitted greatly from the help of colleagues in the department,” Haliczer said.

While Dr. Haliczer did not specifically consult any Catholic authorities during his research, the Rev. Godwin Asuquo of the Newman Catholic Student Center said in an e-mail that “in today’s world, people use games to teach and some of them could convey good moral and truthful lessons.”

He added that Dr. Haliczer could check with a diocesan office for a NIHIL OBSTAT, an official approval by a delegated censor of the Roman Catholic Church to publish a work dealing with faith or morals. This would essentially authenticate in the eyes of the Church the accuracy of the game and its lessons.

Actual work on the game began about four years ago, and with the help of the College of DuPage Press, took about three years to develop, Haliczer said. He added that creating the game demanded a lot of research in game theory and content.

“Everything has to mesh,” Haliczer said, admitting that the hardest part of developing the game as it related to gameplay was creating a scoresheet that held together and made sense of the game as a whole.

Due in part to Internet marketing efforts, Haliczer said sales have increased extensively all over the country since its debut last November. In addition to orders from California, Florida and here in Illinois, units have been shipped all the way across the world to Asia.