Lenten Campaign 2025
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On March 13, 2025, the Catholic Church is celebrating the 12th anniversary of the election of Pope Francis. To mark this anniversary, we take a look back at the longevity of popes and pontificates over the past two centuries.
Since the election of Pius VII in March 1800, 16 popes have succeeded one another on the Throne of Peter. The overwhelming majority of them were Italian. It wasn’t until the election of the Polish pope John Paul II in 1978 that the cardinals gathered in conclave opted for non-Italian popes. Benedict XVI, the German, and Francis, the Argentinian, succeeded the Slavic pontiff.
Pontifical statistics
On average, since 1800, the age of a pope at his election has been 66. The three oldest popes when they left the Sistine Chapel after the vote were Benedict XVI (78), Francis (76), and John XXIII (76).
Pius IX, elected in 1846, was chosen at the youngest age (54 years old). John Paul II was 58 years old when he became pope.
Since 1800, the average age of a pope at the end of his pontificate is around 80. Leo XIII is the pontiff to have reached the highest age in office during this period, dying at the age of 93. Pope Benedict XVI lived to be 95, but he resigned from the Petrine See at the age of 85.
The longest pontificate since 1800 is that of Pius IX. He reigned for more than 31 years (1846-1878), five years longer than the long pontificate of John Paul II (1978-2005).
The shortest reign was that of John Paul I, elected on August 26, 1978, and deceased 33 days later. The pontificate of Pius VIII (1829-1830) lasted only a little over a year. A pope in poor health, his reign was much shorter than that of his model, Pius VII. The latter was in office for almost a quarter of a century, despite the humiliations of Napoleon, who notably imprisoned him for three years in the fortress of Savona.
The pontificate of John XXIII (1958-1963) was one of the shortest of the last two centuries. But by convening the Second Vatican Council shortly after his election, the “good pope” had a decisive reign in the history of the Catholic Church.
Since 1800, three popes have reigned for more than a quarter of a century.
