On reaching this age limit, he will retire from the circle of papal electors.
This means that 122 of the 236 cardinals of the universal church will still be eligible to vote in a future conclave.
Due to a case of sexual abuse of a minor in the 1980s, the Vatican has permanently banned Ricard from further public exercise of the priesthood.
The cardinal has been living in retirement in the French Maritime Alps since 2019. He remains a priest, but is no longer allowed to exercise his spiritual ministry publicly, for example by celebrating mass, baptising, confessing, etc.
Investigation closed due to statute of limitations
Ricard is one of around a dozen French bishops who are accused of sexual misconduct or serious mistakes in their behaviour. The public image and reputation of bishops in France has suffered greatly as a result of such revelations.
The Marseille public prosecutor's office dropped an investigation against Ricard for serious sexual assault due to the statute of limitations.
Ricard, a child of the Marseille bourgeoisie, was ordained a priest of the archdiocese of Marseille in 1968 and spent the first 20 years after that in the city of his birth. In 1988, he became vicar general of Marseille.
Auxiliary bishop in Grenoble since 1993, John Paul II appointed him Bishop of Montpellier in 1996.
From 2001 to 2019, he headed the Archdiocese of Bordeaux in the south-west of the country, and also the Bishops' Conference from 2001 to 2007.