WASHINGTON, Oct. 7 (UPI) -- The Italians have a saying "Ogni morte di papa." Translated literally, it means every time a pope dies. But the English equivalent, "Once in a blue moon," explains it better.
Vatican experts agree the Catholic Church does not like long pontificates because they eventually run out of steam. The conventional wisdom is that a pope who remains in office for a long time eventually either begins to resist change when change is needed, or continues to change things when it isn't.
Popes are elected by all the members of the Sacred College of Cardinals under the age of 80 voting by secret ballot for one of their number. Although the duration of the 232 pontificates, not counting the Apostle Peter, varies enormously from Pope Urban VII's 12 days at the end of the 16th century to Pius IX's 32 years in the 19th, the average pontificate has lasted about 10 years.
The 20th century is a case in point. Of the nine popes elected between 1900 and 2000, five comfortably topped the average. Leo XIII ushered in the century and died in 1903. The pontificate of his successor, Pius X, lasted 11 years. Then came, in chronological order, Benedict XV (eight years), Pius XI (17 years), Pius XII (19 years).
The next pope was John XXIII who died of cancer after holding the office for barely five years. He launched the Second Vatican Council to breathe fresh air into a church much in need of revival, but did not live to see it completed.
He was followed by Paul VI who was elected in 1963 and passed away quietly on Aug 6, 1978, at the papal summer residence of Castel Gandolfo in the Alban Hills, north of Rome. His successor, John Paul I, died suddenly after 34 days. The official cause of death was heart failure, but conspiracy theorists have had a field day hinting at foul play.
One version was that he was poisoned after ordering an investigation into the Vatican's finances. There had, in fact, been rumors that Mafia money was being laundered through the church's financial institutions. However, no hard evidence has emerged to support any of the assassination theories; and no legal action was taken in the wake of the pope's death.
Pope John Paul II, who celebrates the 25th anniversary of his election on Oct. 16 amid ever-increasing concern for his failing health, has already outlasted every pope except Pope Pius IX, and Leo XIII. In March, he will also overtake Pope Leo XIII to hold the record for the second-longest pontificate in the history of the church.
There is evidence that St. Peter remained at the head of the church for 35 years. But most authorities, including the Encyclopedia Britannica do not include him in the list of long papal tenures, possibly because he was chosen by Christ to found the church, and did not go through an election process.
Pope John Paul recently reminded a visiting U.S. official that his quarter century in office has spanned nearly seven U.S. presidential terms. The Polish-born pope is often called the catalyst that forced the collapse of the Soviet empire. Despite his advanced Parkinson's disease, and the recurring effects of being shot in the stomach by a would-be assassin widely believed to have been working for the Bulgarian secret service, he has continued to travel widely. Earlier this year, the number of papal trips passed the 100 mark.
