Rule of the Old

What other institution on the planet produces as many impressive old men as the Catholic church?

Francis is 76. Joseph Ratzinger was nearly 80 when he became Benedict XVI. Not yet 60, John Paul II was a kid when he started the second-longest Papacy in history, but he was 85 when he died.

It doesn’t seem to cost the Catholic church their youth. John Paul electrified young people well into his 80s. What 70-year-old other than Francis gets headlines about his “rock star” status? Perhaps Christians don’t want their pastors to be edgy and cool. Perhaps people are looking for a papa.

This is one of the Catholic church’s great contributions to a global culture oriented toward the young, the new, the fresh. Bucking the obsession with novelty as it bucks so many other contemporary obsessions, the Catholic church sets measured, experienced, mature, wise, tough old men on the global stage.

Hipster evangelicals, take note.