Loss of ecclesiastical office by resignation at the age limit defied by law

Abstract

Reaching the age limit as a cause to present the resignation of the ecclesiastical office has been introduced by the II Vatican Ecumenical Council for
diocesan bishops and parish priests. This provision was applied by Paul VI, who set the seventy-five years limit. This same Pope applied this criterion
to the Superior Prelates of the Roman Curia and later also to the Cardinals and set the eighty years as the limit to hold an office and to be elector of the
Roman Pontiff. The new legislation has received this principle as a general rule. Subsequent legislation on the Roman Curia has accepted this principle
and Pope Francis has clarified a little the effect of the fulfillment of the age to resign and of the resignation itself.