Tag Archives: 7th oldest

‘Pope Francis’, When He Turns 85 On December 17, 2021, Will Rank 97th In Terms Of ‘Length Of Papacy’.

1 Reply

by Anura Guruge
on December 5, 2021

Click to ENLARGE. From one of my ‘magic’ papal Excel spreadsheets.
Click to ENLARGE. From my ‘Electing the Next Pope‘ (2021) book.

A few days ago, in my post about Pope Francis turning 85 & thus becoming the 7th oldest pope (as of 1400), I mentioned in passing that he has had ‘quite a good innings‘ (as we say in cricket) as to how long he has reigned. I knew that I would have to elaborate on this sooner than later. And yes someone raised this topic at once.

So, I went & did the sums.

96 popes (based on data we have/use) have reigned for longer; 170 for shorter.

The average length is 7.2 years. So, he has easily exceeded that.

In March 13, 2022, he would have been pope for 9 years. At that point he will go up by 4 in the rankings to #93 (or #92). Then he will start to climb up quite quickly. By the Summer of 2022 he will be around the #88 mark.

I will keep you posted. Easy enough to do. Just a question of making time.

‘Pope Francis’ On December 17, 2021, Will Turn 85 — He Will Be The 7th Oldest Pope As Of 1400.

3 Replies

by Anura Guruge
on December 3, 2021

Click to ENLARGE.

So he has now overtaken beloved (& long-serving) St. John Paul II to become the 7th oldest pope as of 1400.

The birthdates of popes prior to 1400 are either unavailable or unreliable. Hence, any meaningful age-related claims as to popes have to be ‘as of 1400’.

Francis’ predecessor, who resigned in 2013, i.e., Benedict XVI, was 85.739 years. He currently holds the #4 spot (as of 1400).

If Francis is still pope on September 14, 2022, he will overtake Benedict XVI to become the 4th oldest (as of 1400).

In July 2022 he will become the 6th oldest. So, he is now climbing through the ranks quite rapidly.

Also note that he has been pope for a year longer than Benedict XVI. In March 2022 he will reach his 9th anniversary. Yes, there are popes, including John Paul II, who have reigned for much, much longer. But, 9 years is quite a good span to be a pope.

But, he will be 85 in 2 weeks & that too is a very respectable span of time.