French cardinal turns 80: number of cardinal-electors drops to 106
August 30, 2010
French Cardinal Paul Poupard, the former president of the Pontifical Council for Culture, celebrated his 80th birthday on August 30, and thus became ineligible to participate in a a papal conclave.
There are now 106 cardinals who are qualified to vote in a papal election. Three more cardinals—Salvatore De Giorgi, the former Archbishop of Palermo; and Ignace Moussa I, the retired Syrian Catholic Patriarch of Antioch; and Michele Giordano, the retired Archbishop of Naples—will turn 80 in September. On October 15, Cardinal Wiyghan Tumi, the former Archbishop of Doula, Cameroon, will reach the same age—as will Cardinal Janis Pujats, the retired Archbishop of Riga, Latvia, in November.
By November 15, then the number of cardinals qualified to join in the deliberations of a papal conclave will be 101. With the maximum number of cardinal-electors set at 120, expectations are steadily mounting that Pope Benedict XVI will soon call a consistory to name new cardinals.
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