In the Roman Catholic Church, great age has never been a bar to holding high office. Pope John XXIII was 81 at his death. Pope Leo XIII reigned until he died at 93. Celestine III was raised to the papacy at 85. Of the 97 current cardinals, 45 are 75 or older. The Vati can's Prefect of the Congregation of Seminaries is the feeble Giuseppe Car dinal Pizzardo, 89. And under canon law, bishops, no matter how aged and ailing, remain rulers of their dioceses —although the church has traditionally provided coadjutors...
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