[Lilllabettt]

I thought the cardinals were going to pick somebody old this time, because they don't like long pontificates and they've just been through a doozy. No?

[sinkspur]

70 is about the upper limit. John XXIII was 78 in 1958, and only lived five years.

The cardinals don't want another 27 year pontificate (and counting), but two or three years is a bit short. Ratzinger wanted to retire at CDF, but John Paul II refused to accept his resignation.