You knew when you were getting older when policemen were the same age as you. The next stage was when people in shops stopped addressing you as ‘mate’ and started calling you ‘sir’. The step after that was when young ladies stood up to offer you their seat in a crowded train. Today you know if you are over the hill if you are the same age as a new pope. Is there another organisation in the world whose shareholders would vote for a septuagenarian who didn’t want the job to be their CEO? They say the cardinals vote for someone in the sunset of their years so that they don’t stick around for too long to change anything. Seems a bit cynical.