You couldn't exactly duplicate it since the church is based on different basic assumptions, but in principle, the Catholic Church was as close as you got to a meritocratic system in Europe for long stretches of its history. Under the reform papacy, peasant kids rose to the highest ranks by dint of their education and unscrupulous willingness to use it. Post-Tridentine popes have usually been accomplished intellectuals with a background in fairly obscure topics. We tend to forget this, but theology is one of the toughest academic subjects in terms of formal requirements. You have to read Latin, koine Greek and Hebrew, master formal logic and hermenmeutical analysis, and show considerable mental flexibility to do all of that within the dogmatic framework permitted. Washout rates are high.
Obviously, this can't be formalised. The pope is chosen by a conclave inspired by the Holy Ghost, who is not bound by competitive exam results, and the legitimacy of apostolic succession flows down from that position. But in practice, for you to be considered for a bishopric, let alone a higher position, you have to be a high academic achiever. If you look at the past three popes:
John Paul II: Straight A student, advanced degrees in philosophy and literature (despite there being a world war on at the time), doctorate in theology, habil. (a kind of postdoc dissertation) on moral theology and secular ethics, full professorship before his advancement to bishop, published literary writer in his twenties, continued to attend conferences and publish academically until his election.
Benedict XVI: High achiever in school (despite being drafted for labor service at the time), advanced degree in theology and philosophy, doctorate summa cum laude, very contentious habil. dissertation, full professorship at 31, speaks six languages.
Francis I: Por kid getting a techniocal education, thenm going on to study humanities, then philosophy and theology, getting advanced degrees and academic teaching, (no doctorate, which is unusual). Speaks six languages.
There is a bit of a pattern here.