Bishop of Vinh Long in Vietnam, Bishop Antoine Nguyen Van Thien, who was the Church's oldest bishop, died on Sunday at the age of 106. French bishop and Council Father, Géry Leuliet, aged 102, is now the oldest bishop.
Bishop Leuliet, who was born near Calais, and headed the northern French diocese of Amiens from 1963 to 1985, says his greatest desire is for the Church to continue in the path set at the Second Vatican Council.
Ordained in 1933 before being named bishop in 1963 by Pope John XXIII, Bishop Leuliet told Le Figaro this week that his "greatest memory" was participating in the Second Vatican Council. He was a Council Father at the Council's second, third and fourth sessions.
The bishop, who now lives in a priests' retirement home in Arras, said his greatest wish was for the Church to progress in the "faithfulness that Vatican II established".