ELI5: Why are all popes of the Catholic Church old? Why dont they . . . The only requirements are being a man, being catholic, and getting two thirds of all voting cardinals to elect you as pope However there hasn't been a non-cardinal pope for a long, long, time So, you kind of have to be one even if it isn't required
Why are the popes normally old? - Answers Oh, dude, the popes are usually old because they've been around for a while Like, they start off as young priests, then they work their way up the holy ladder, and before you know
Popes through the ages: Some facts you might not know For an institution that has existed for nearly 2,000 years, most people know very little about the papacy and its history Here are some of the most commonly asked questions – and a few answers you may find surprising Who can be pope? Canon law says any unmarried, baptized male Catholic, clergy or not, is eligible to be pope
Why is the pope so old? (And other media questions) It has almost nothing to do with the pope "always" being "so old " It does have a few errors (on whether priests can be married and that whole catholic Catholic thing we've been discussing) but you can peruse it on your own
Age matters: Popes elected as young as 24, as old as 81 On the topic of the age of the pope at election, he said: — Three popes were under the age of 25 The last was Pope Gregory V, who was 24 when elected in 996 — Seven were between 25 and 40
How Young May the Next Pope Be? - Crisis Magazine Elderly popes had been the norm for several reasons Wisdom, of course, comes with age So does a proven track record Near-octogenarians have also been elected as “stop-gaps,” such as John XXIII who followed upon the 20-year reign of Pius XII
Are popes required to serve for life? - U. S. Catholic Catholics have become accustomed to the idea of popes dying in office—after all, 600 years is a long time between papal resignations But there is no written rule that a pope must serve for life
Why is the pope always so old? (Video) - The Washington Post That's why the average age of the new pope is generally in his 60s — which remarkably was also the case when people lived much shorter lives in 19th, 18th, 17th and even 16th centuries