He was Archbishop of Munich and Freising from 1982 to 2008

Friedrich Wetter in the top 20 oldest cardinals of all time

München - If you look at the statistics for the oldest cardinals, it doesn't seem to be an overly unhealthy profession. At the same time, this list also suggests that people are getting older and older in the 21st century.

Published on 30.08.2025 at 15:32 –

Friedrich Wetter, Archbishop of Munich and Freising, will be one of the 20 oldest cardinals of all time. On Tuesday (2 September), he will draw level with Cardinal Alexandre Jose Maria dos Santos (1924-2021), the former Archbishop of Maputo in Mozambique; both will then have been in the world for 35,626 days or 97 years, 6 months and 2 weeks.

The oldest German and Bavarian cardinal was Paul Augustin Mayer (1911-2010), a Benedictine monk from Altötting who held important offices in the Roman Curia; he lived for 98.9 years or 36,138 days. Following in his footsteps (in 32nd place) is the Franconian Curia Cardinal Emeritus Walter Brandmüller with 96.6 years or 35,305 days.

End of September 100

The oldest cardinal of all time is Corrado Bafile (1903-2005), Italian Vatican diplomat and papal ambassador to Germany, with 101.5 years or 37,106 days. Currently the oldest living cardinal is the Italian Angelo Acerbi, who was only appointed in December 2024 and will be 100 years old in three weeks' time (23 September).

The oldest cardinal - and the only one in the top 20 - born before the 20th century is the Parisian Archbishop Jean-Baptiste de Belloy (1709-1808) in eleventh place at 98.6 years or 36,039 days. Napoleon only appointed the former Bishop of Marseille to the French capital at the age of 92. De Belloy died in office. (KNA)