Not to put too fine a point on it, but, he turned 76 this past December. I agree. Is there any particular reason they keep electing to the office of Pope men who are on the downside of their lives???
Probably the same reason we keep electing them to the Senate. :)
Yes. When there is a clear lack of direction, the idea is to elect elderly chairwarmers and delay the final battle until the next conclave. The selection of Angelo Roncalli, aka John 23, is a textbook example of that.
Eh. Close enough. Sloppy math. Seems to me it’d be a better idea to elect a Pope who was in his prime.
SnakeDoc
Most Popes are usually older men. Just recently with John Paul II was a rare exception to be elected in his late 50's.
I think they look for an experienced cardinal that already has an idea what needs to be done and will have maybe 10 years to do it.
A Jesuit Pope indicates to me that maybe the cardinals think the Jesuits need to be reigned in.
A cardinal from South America indicates to me that a large part of the Catholic population is in South America and also that maybe all of the dictatorships/socialist countries/narcotics hellholes in South America need some attention.
I don’t think a 30 year old has lived long enough to know what a Pope should know...........