The demographic transition of the Catholic Church’s cardinals (1900-2020)

This article illustrates the demographic change of the Catholic Church’s cardinals over the course of the 20th and 21st centuries. We focus in particular on (1) a possible explanation for their much more intense increase in survival compared to that experienced by the average population and (2) the strong internationalization of the College of Cardinals. Moreover, despite the very low mortality rate before the 80th birthday, given that only cardinals under the age of 80 can participate in the election of the new bishop of Rome, a strategic combination of a high average age at cardinal appointment (67.5 years), and the legal constraint of a maximum of 120 cardinal electors, enable a new pope to renew the College of Cardinal electors within a period of few years, thus influencing the selection of his successor.