Korean Cardinal Yeom Soo-Jung is 80 years old and therefore loses the right to vote in the event of a conclave. He served for more than nine years as archbishop of Seoul until 2021.
Soo-Jung is also the third person in South Korean history to become a member of the College of Cardinals. He was created a cardinal on February 22, 2014 at Pope Francis' first consistory.
That same year, he became the first Korean Catholic leader to cross the border and travel to North Korea. He met with South Korean Catholic workers at the Kaesong industrial zone, the only joint project in place at the time between the two Koreas.
With his birthday, the number of cardinal electors who could vote for the next pope drops to 134. African Cardinal Zerbo and Peruvian Cardinal Juan Luis Cipriani will also turn 80 this month. With them, the number of voting members of the College of Cardinals by the end of 2023 will be 132.
CA
TR: KG
