advised him against taking any more transatlantic trips his age is weighing on him ratzinger 89 told the telegraph adding that the pope had been considering stepping down at this age my brother wants more rest father virgilio elizondo a professor at the university of notre dame in indiana said he thinks pope benedict xvi made a very difficult but wise decision by resigning he added that the papacy has a history of unpredictability and the surprise resignation fits right in i think when you consider the sincerity of the man when you consider the weight of the universal church and the greatest variety of issues affecting the church and the rest of the world i could see how he could come to that decision elizondo told abcnewscomwhats really needed is a younger person with more vigor and uptodate knowledge about whats happening i think thats the rationality behind this pope pope benedict xvi was just 73 days away from being the third oldest pope but he will remain the fourth oldest pope because his resignation date is scheduled for feb 28 said guruge the three older popes were pope clement x who lived to be just over 86 years old pope clement xii who lived to be 87 and pope leo xiii who lived to be 93 they all died without resigning pope leo iii who died in 1903 became known as the eternal pope because he kept on living guruge said then however the job was less demanding because the pope didnt have to be on television or travel or tweet although church law says that cardinals should submit their resignations to the pope when they reach 75 years old there is no such law for the pope said father francis schussler fiorenza who teaches roman catholic theological studies at harvard university fiorenza studied under pope benedict xvi about 40 years ago in munster germany when the pope was still father joseph ratzinger i know what he looked like when he was really young and healthy fiorenza told abcnewscom adding that pope benedict xvis predecessor pope john paul ii was sick until he died in 2005 at 85 years old pope john paul ii lived with parkinson s disease for decades but he died of cardiocircular failure and septic shock on april 2 2005 he also had kidney failure new york cardinal timothy dolan told abc news that he trusts pope benedict xvis judgment on stepping down but he was impressed with the 85yearolds ability to stay awake during a church leaders meeting i was amazed he was there every day never fell asleep dolan said with a laugh i cant say that about myself in some of the talks