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Question though why elect another old pope; why not someone young? |
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Well, the pope is elected from the College of Cardinals, and cardinals are priests who have risen through the ranks of the church, which takes time.
Historically, Popes of the Catholic Church have not served long periods; the average seem to be around 10 years.
Of course, you do have instances like Urban VII, who was in office for 13 days, and John Paul II's predecessor, John Paul I, who was in the office for one month and two days. In fact, at least nine popes have died within a month of their election (there is some argument over whether Stephen II, who died three days after his election but before his consecration, should be counted.)
On the other hand, Pope Pius IX reigned for almost 32 years and John Paul II was the third longest reigning pope at 26 1/2 years. (According to Church doctrine, St. Peter takes the cake with 35 years).
Those "older" people on the site might also remember the Summer of Three Popes in 1978, when Pope Paul VI was succeeded by Pope John Paul I, who died and was succeeded by John Paul II...all within the space of two months! However, the thirteen years with three popes really don't hold a candle to the year 1276...when there were FOUR).
As for the age of elected popes, there is definitely some history of young popes taking the stage. The youngest pope was John XII, who was eighteen when he was elected in 955. Some sources claim the youngest pope was Benedict IX (1032 A.D.), elected at age twelve. However, you really have to look at the life expectancies for those times compared to ours.
Adrian I (772 - 795) is accepted as the oldest person ever elected as Pope, at 80 years of age. However, there are arguments that Celestine III was the oldest elected Pope – 85 when he was elected in 1191.
Isn't Catholic trivia fun!
