Cardinal Vinko Puljić oldest elector at the conclave: Still has voting rights until September

(Patria) - Among the 135 cardinals eligible to vote in the election of a new Pope is the former Archbishop of Vrhbosna, Vinko Puljić. Namely, he is the oldest member of the College of Cardinals with voting rights, as he will not turn 80 until September.

The maximum number of 120 cardinal electors was set by Pope Paul VI. However, since the beginning of his pontificate, Pope Francis has interpreted this number as a minimum. His predecessors followed this trend. Of the total 252 living cardinals, 135 are under 80 years old, as of April 21.

The oldest member of the College of Cardinals with voting rights, Cardinal Vinko Puljić, former Archbishop of Sarajevo in Bosnia and Herzegovina, will not turn 80 until September, and will therefore participate in the conclave. Pope John Paul II appointed him a cardinal in 1994, at the height of the Balkan War.

According to the Catholic portal Aleteia, as the oldest member of the College of Cardinals by date of appointment among those eligible to vote, Puljić will recite the official prayer at the inauguration of the new Pope.

Austrian Cardinal Christoph Schönborn turned 80 in January, so only the following cardinals appointed by Polish Pope John Paul II will remain in the electoral college: Cardinal Peter Turkson from Ghana, Cardinal Péter Erdő from Hungary, Cardinal Josip Bozanić from Croatia, and Cardinal Philippe Barbarin from France.

As for the cardinals appointed by Benedict XVI, 18 of them – or about 15% of all cardinals eligible to vote – will be eligible to participate in the conclave. Indian Cardinal George Alencherry, appointed by the German Pope, will miss the conclave by just three days, as he turned 80 on April 19.