How Young May the Next Pope Be?
When Karol Wojtyła stepped onto the balcony of St. Peter’s Basilica in 1978 as John Paul II, he was only 58. Though that seemed unusual at the time, the previous century saw Pius IX elected at 54. Although we aren’t likely to see a pope as young as 20-year-old Benedict IX, elected in 1031, it’s safe to say that Pius and John Paul have broken the mold and made it possible for virtually anyone to be elected to the See of Peter.
Elderly popes had been the norm for several reasons. Wisdom, of course, comes with age. So does a proven track record. Near-octogenarians have also been elected as “stop-gaps,” such as John XXIII who followed upon the 20-year reign of Pius XII. Although il papa buono occupied the throne for less than five years, he rocked the Barque of Peter by convoking an ecumenical council now known as Vatican II.
Pope Clement X, elected just shy of his 80th birthday in 1670, had enough vigor to pass the five-year mark and preside over the Holy Year of 1675 before dying the following year. Albino Luciani, 65 when elected as John Paul I in 1978, was not meant to be a stopgap, but still, he only lasted 33 days. Non si sa mai, as the Italians say (“you just never know”).
By the time Karol Wojtyła entered the Sistine Chapel in October of 1978, he had been a cardinal for over a decade and was among the electors who chose John Paul I just two months earlier. Wojtyła wasn’t well-known, but he certainly was not unknown. The average age of the College at that time was 67, and one of the Archbishop of Kraków’s main contenders, Giovanni Benelli, Archbishop of Florence, was only 56. The other, Giuseppe Siri, was already 72.
St. John Paul II, fluent in eight languages, was a splendid communicator and brilliant philosopher. He was also a goalie, a skier, and an avid outdoorsman. The Church adored him precisely because he acted younger than his age. His remarkable story was translated into gripping comic books that I avidly consumed as an 8-year-old growing up in Chicago, the largest Polish metropolis outside of Poland. There was no reason to think he would be leaving anytime soon. And indeed, his 27-year pontificate will go down in history as one of the most prolific.
Now, 20 years later, is it time for another young pope? Setting Paolo Sorrentino’s television drama aside, let’s look at two candidates.
Giorgio Marengo, I.M.C, is currently Apostolic Prefect of Ulaanbaatar, a missionary territory covering all 600,000 square miles of Mongolia. The country is the 19th largest by area but home to only 3.5 million, 1,500 of whom are Catholic. That’s almost a 10,000 percent increase over 30 years thanks to the fall of communism and the assiduous work of missionaries such as the Consolata, a religious congregation founded by Blessed Giuseppe Allamano in 1901.
Two years after his priestly ordination, Fr. Marengo was sent to Mongolia along with four Consolata comrades. He spent 14 years in Arvaikheer, 280 miles southwest of the capital, where he established a small parish and immersed himself in charitable work. Appointed shepherd of those hinterlands by Francis in 2020, His Eminence has increased the number of priests in Mongolia to about 25. The Prefecture is also blessed with 30 religious men and 30 women.
I and others who studied alongside Giorgio at the Pontifical Gregorian University in the late 1990s were impressed with his missionary heart and his insatiable desire to learn about other cultures and religions. He describes his approach to evangelization as “sussurrare il Vangelo” (“to whisper the Gospel”), meaning to build trust with the Buddhist natives and form relationships that open the door to a personal sharing of faith. If the cardinals want a missionary evangelist with extensive experience in interreligious dialogue and the heart of a pastor, Giorgio is their man.
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