The cardinals begun the fourth General Congregation (aka: their 4th meeting) today at 9:00 a.m. One hundred and fifty three cardinals were present. Out of that number, 113 will be participating in the papal election. The two cardinals who are missing are Cardinal Kazimierz Nycz, archbishop of Warsaw, Poland, and Cardinal Jean-Baptiste Pham Minh Man, archbishop of Thanh-Pho Ho Chi Minh, Vietnam. The cardinal electors are all expected to be present by tomorrow. Since it appears that the rest of the Congregation is awaiting their last two brethren in order to set a date for the papal conclave, expect to see such a date by tomorrow or Friday. Cardinal Walter Kasper from Germany, will be a Cardinal elector despite celebrating his 80th birthday yesterday. The rule is that the cardinals are only ineligible to vote if they have reached 80 by the day before the papal seat becomes vacant.
This raises an interesting question about the fact that cardinals 80 or older are not allowed to vote but could potentially become the new pope. Does this seem logical? At first glance, it does not. These 80 and up cardinals are all allowed to attend the General Congregation and give their input there, so why deny them the chance to actively vote? Currently there are 40 cardinals who made it to the Vatican and yet are not eligible to vote. The fact that they made the trip, seems to show that they are physically capable. One hopes they would be mentally capable of making a papal selection given that they are still participating in the General Congregation and discussing issues that will have an impact on the entire Catholic Church.
However, despite my issues with excluding some very capable cardinals from papal voting, I still see the necessity of limiting the age. By setting a voting age requirement, a pope will always know when he has to appoint another Cardinal elector (a cardinal who votes for the pope). He does not have to wait until someone passes away and then have to scramble to fill the position. There is a streamlined efficiency to this that greatly pleases me - particularly when discussing the Catholic Church (which could do with a little more efficiency). I mean look at the US Supreme Court - the justices cling to their seats until the last possible moment when either death takes them or they are sure that the current president will appoint someone most closely fitting their ideology. This does not necessarily serve the best interests of the United States and can lead to periods where Supreme Court justice seats are vacant until the President nominates and the Senate confirms someone new. Furthermore, because of the 79 and under requirement, the elder cardinals are not required to make the trip to the Vatican. They can come if they want to participate in the General Congregation, but it is not a requirement for them as it is for the Cardinal electors.
Regarding the new pope, although he may be 80 or older, this is unlikely to occur. It would be strange to elect an older pope following Pope Emeritus Benedict's resignation due to his feeling he was no longer able to carry out his papal duties. An older pope would be faced with similar difficulties. That being said, if there is no clear favorite for pope, the cardinals may choose an older pope they can all agree to elect (probably because he will not be pope for long). Either way, age has an interesting dynamic within the Catholic Church.
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