A pope for the ages: Is Leo XIV a young pontiff?

At 69 Leo XIV was elected pope at a significantly younger age than his two immediate predecessors, Francis and Benedict XVI — something observers, including his own brother, believe will bring fresh dynamism to the Holy See. Sure enough, the Chicago-born pontiff né Robert Francis Prevost is said to be a baseball fan that enjoys playing a competitive game of tennis. 

Yet, all is relative in the Catholic Church’s almost 2,000-year history, which features teenage popes as well as many recent younger spiritual leaders.  “He is young to be a pope I think, and he is active, so he will be here and there and moving around,” Prevost’s older brother John told US broadcaster CBS of his sibling. 

Born in 1955, at election Leo XIV is seven years younger than Francis, nine years younger than Benedict XVI and a whopping 18 years greener than the oldest man ever chosen to head the Vatican.  Gregory VIII was 87 when he was anointed pope, according to “Behind Locked Doors” a chronicle of papal elections by historian Frederic Baumgartner. 

Alas, seen as conciliatory towards the tempestuous Holy Roman Emperor Barbarossa, Gregory died after only two months in the job.  The youngest ever pope didn’t fare a whole lot better — and his youth was partially to blame.  Elected at only 18 in 955, John XII was in charge for nine years, a relatively short reign considering that, with few exceptions, pontiffs stay in office for life.

“He died in 964, allegedly worn out by debauchery and excess,” Baumgartner writes.  According to an analysis, the average age of the 14 pontiffs elected in the past two centuries, starting with Gregory XVI, is 66.8 — which makes Leo XIV comparatively old. The youngest was Pius IX, who was 54 at election, followed by John Paul II, born Karol Wojtyla, who was appointed aged 58.

With life expectancy going up across the globe, nine worked into their 80s and one into his 90s. Incidentally, that was the man whose pontificate is understood to have inspired Prevost’s papal name choice.  Gioacchino Pecci aka Leo XIII died aged 93 after a 25-year stint in office — one of the longest in recent times.