Cardinal Quevedo turns 80, loses papal conclave eligibility

FILE: Cotabato Archbishop Orlando Quevedo takes oath as chairman of the CBCP Episcopal Commission on Doctrine of the Faith during the bishops’ plenary assembly at the Pius XII Center in Manila, January 18, 2014. On Feb. 22, Quevedo will be elevated to cardinal together with other 18 prelates by Pope Francis during a ceremony in Saint Peter’s Basilica at the Vatican. (Photo: CBCP News/Website)

MANILA — Retired Cotabato Archbishop Orlando Cardinal Quevedo, who turned 80 on Monday, is no longer allowed to participate in a conclave or the election of a new Pope.

According to an article posted in the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) news website, the cardinal celebrated his birthday by presiding a Mass with bishops at the Cotabato Cathedral.

Canon Law states that a cardinal who turns 80 is no longer eligible to vote in a conclave.

This leaves the Philippines with only one Cardinal, Manila Archbishop Luis Antonio Tagle, 61, who is eligible to participate in a conclave.

Quevedo was the first and so far, the only Filipino Cardinal who was appointed by Pope Francis under his papacy.

He was the country’s eighth cardinal and the first from Mindanao.

Aside from Quevedo and Tagle, the country has one more living cardinal, retired Manila Archbishop Emeritus Gaudencio Rosales, who is now 86 years old.

There are now 223 living cardinals, of whom 122 are under the age of 80 and are eligible to elect a new Pope.

Under the rules, the conclave must achieve a two-thirds majority to elect the new Pope.