List of popes by age

This is a list of ages of popes.

Ages of popes[edit]

Date range	Average age		Average years served as pope
Date range	At election	At death	Average years served as pope
1503 to 1700	63	70	7
1700 to 2005	65	78	13
1503 to 2005	64	74	10

The youngest popes ever[edit]

The information to determine the age of the youngest popes upon election is frequently unavailable, as many popes have completely unknown dates of birth. The probable youngest popes are:

John XI (931–935, who was 20 at the beginning of his papacy)
John XII (955–964, became pope at either 18 or 25 years old)^[1]
Gregory V (996–999, who was 24 at the beginning of his papacy)
Benedict IX (pope from 1032–1044, 1045, 1047–1048, first elected pope at about 20 years of age)

Three of these (all except Gregory V) were members of the Theophylacti family that dominated Roman politics during the 10th century. This period is known to historians as the saeculum obscurum.

Ten oldest popes at election (post-1295)[edit]

Pope	Year elected	Elected at age	Age at end of pontificate	Length of pontificate
Clement X	1670	79 years, 290 days	86	6 years, 84 days
Alexander VIII	1689	79 years, 177 days	80	1 year, 118 days
Paul IV	1555	78 years, 330 days	83	4 years, 87 days
Clement XII	1730	78 years, 100 days	87	9 years, 209 days
Benedict XVI	2005	78 years, 3 days	85 (resignation) / today 97	7 years, 315 days
John XXIII	1958	76 years, 337 days	81	4 years, 218 days
Innocent XII	1691	76 years, 124 days	85	9 years, 77 days
Callixtus III	1455	76 years, 98 days	79	3 years, 120 days
Francis	2013	76 years, 86 days	Current / today 87	≥ 11 years, 254 days
Benedict XIII	1724	75 years, 91 days	81	5 years, 268 days

Ten oldest popes at death or resignation (post-1295)[edit]

Pope	Year elected	Elected at age	Age at end of pontificate	Length of pontificate
Leo XIII	1878	67	93 years, 140 days	25 years, 150 days
Clement XII	1730	78	87 years, 305 days	9 years, 209 days
Clement X	1670	79	86 years, 9 days	6 years, 84 days
Benedict XVI	2005	78	85 years, 318 days (resignation) / alive 97 years, 220 days^[2]	7 years, 315 days
Pius IX	1846	54	85 years, 270 days	31 years, 236 days
Innocent XII	1691	76	85 years, 107 days	9 years, 77 days
John Paul II	1978	58	84 years, 319 days	26 years, 168 days
Francis	2013	76	Current pope / today 87 years, 341 days	11 years, 254 days
Gregory XIII	1572	70	83 years, 92 days	12 years, 332 days
Paul IV	1555	78	83 years, 51 days	4 years, 87 days

References[edit]

↑ Mann, Horace K. (1910). The Lives of the Popes in the Early Middle Ages, Vol. IV: The Popes in the Days of Feudal Anarchy, 891-999, p. 244
↑ "Benedict XVI becomes oldest pope in history". France 24. 2020-09-04. Retrieved 2021-05-04.

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[1] Mann, Horace K. (1910). The Lives of the Popes in the Early Middle Ages, Vol. IV: The Popes in the Days of Feudal Anarchy, 891-999, p. 244

[2] "Benedict XVI becomes oldest pope in history". France 24. 2020-09-04. Retrieved 2021-05-04.

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