The cutoff age for the College of Cardinals is 80 years old. When it comes to conclaves to elect a new pope, those who reach this age are no longer allowed to vote or enter the Sistine Chapel. 80 years of age also marks the theoretical date of retirement from official duties.
Any bishop who turns 75, meanwhile, is required to submit his resignation to the pope for his consideration. It is the pope who then decides when to accept it. In the case of cardinals, who hold a unique role in the Church, their positions are usually extended until they turn 80. But this is something of an unwritten rule. In the end, the pope always has the final say.
In 2026, seven cardinals will reach retirement age. The first is Cardinal John Njue, Archbishop Emeritus of Nairobi. His case is unique: he should have turned 80 at the end of 2024, but there was an error in his date of birth. In Kenya, at the time of his birth, it was common for such things to happen and for certain data to be unknown.
He was also one of the two cardinals who, despite being of voting age, was unable to travel to this year's conclave for health reasons.
Two papal nuncios will also turn 80: Cardinal Zenari, who has been in Syria since 2008, and Cardinal Christophe Pierre, ambassador of the Holy See to the United States since 2016. Both were made cardinals by Pope Francis.
Two other archbishops join this list: the archbishop of Agrigento, Italy, Cardinal Francesco Montenegro, and Cardinal Juan José Omella, archbishop of Barcelona since 2015. Omella, one of Pope Francis’s trusted men, was part of the C-9, the council of cardinals that advised the Argentinian pope about the governance of the Church.
And finally, a senior official of the Curia: Jesuit Cardinal Michael Czerny, who has headed the Dicastery for Promoting Integral Human Development since 2022. In theory, when he turns 80 on July 18, Pope Leo will begin looking for his successor.
CA
