Given the travel and media demands of the modern age, the selection of a younger Pope could be in the Church’s interest

The resignation of Benedict XVI may have done more than pave the way for Pope Francis to resign, it may have normalised papal resignations and opened the door for the appointment of younger pontiffs, especially since the average age of new popes has been steadily creeping up. That popes tend to be older is hardly news – after a lifetime climbing the ladder, given that popes are generally expected to die in office, there has been a tendency to pick older men because that was the pool available.

Francis was 76 when he became Pope and Benedict 78 (they are respectively 85 and 95 today). By contrast, St. Pope John Paul II was a comparatively youthful 58 when his papacy began, while his predecessor’s short-lived papacy began and ended at the age of 65. Indeed, the average age of popes elected during the 20th century was 65, the same age as John Paul I.

Why then – like US Presidents – is the average age of popes creeping back up? It may have something to do with the general ageing of society as a whole as well as a lack of new priests (the average is now about 70). Yet, with the exception of two African clerics, most of the leading candidates to succeed Francis are between 65 and 70: Cardinal Tagle (65), Cardinal Erdő (70), Cardinal Zuppi (66), Cardinal Grech (65), and Cardinal Parolin (67), with Cardinal Sarah (77) and Cardinal Turkson (73) on the older side.

The Benedict resignation surely opens the door to picking priests on the younger side who can retire before ill health or incapacitation gets the better of them (especially if and when the role of an ex-pope becomes more clearly defined). Given the global nature of the Church, its leader is now expected to travel more than ever, meeting and greeting, and displaying visibility more common to a political leader than a clerical one.

Visibility matters, but so too does intellectual energy, and the ability to grapple with complex issues and endure the demands of a fast-moving internet age, where younger Catholics are increasingly online and expect their leaders to, at least, know their way around social media platforms too. The 20th Century opened up the visibility of popes thanks to television and air travel. Today, the internet has supercharged this trend, while the increasingly fast pace of life is something which demands energy on behalf of its leaders.

We are seeing in the United States today the impact of having an ageing leader in office. In China and Russia, there is also the sense that nearly-septuagenarian leaders are beginning to act in haste to cement some kind of legacy before the curtain draws on their leadership. In some respects, older popes who die in office can avoid this fate since they seem to have all the time in the world. But leaders like Vladimir Putin and Xi Jinping also have to worry less about being voted out, and more about ageing consuming them.

The precedent set by Benedict does more than open the door for the incumbent Pope to resign but for the appointment of younger popes as well (incidentally, of the list of would-be successors, Cardinal Tagle – whose selection would also represent the changing international face of the Church – is also the youngest). Younger popes could perhaps better withstand the demands of travel and media exposure expected of pontiffs today, while perhaps inspiring a new generation of priests. Finally, the selection of more youthful leaders – something more common in the past anyway – could go some way to mollifying the concerns of reformers, without necessarily undermining the Church’s fundamental values.

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