Five cardinals are among the U.S. bishops who could retire because of age this year.

There are 14 still-active U.S. bishops --- including Cardinals Adam J. Maida of Detroit, William H. Keeler of Baltimore and Bernard F. Law, archpriest of St. Mary Major Basilica in Rome --- who have already turned 75, the age at which bishops are requested to submit their resignation to the pope.

Eleven more bishops will celebrate their 75th birthday in 2007. They include Cardinal Edward M. Egan of New York, whose 75th birthday is April 2 and has been archbishop of New York since 2000. Cardinal F. James Stafford, a Baltimore native who will mark his 75th birthday July 26, has been the Vatican's major penitentiary since 2003. He is a former bishop of Memphis, and archbishop of Denver, and served 1996-2003 as president of the Pontifical Council for the Laity.

The nine other currently active bishops, in addition to Cardinals Egan and Stafford, who will turn 75 in 2007 are:

---Bishop John J. Nevins of Venice, Fla., Jan. 19.

---Auxiliary Bishop A. James Quinn of Cleveland, April 8.

---Auxiliary Bishop John M. Dougherty of Scranton, Pa., April 29.

---Auxiliary Bishop Gilbert E. Chavez of San Diego, May 9.

---Archbishop Elden F. Curtiss of Omaha, Neb., June 16.

---Bishop James A. Murray of Kalamazoo, Mich., July 5.

---Bishop James M. Moynihan of Syracuse, N.Y., July 6.

---Bishop John M. D'Arcy of Fort Wayne-South Bend, Ind., Aug. 18.

---Archbishop Alfred C. Hughes of New Orleans, Dec. 2.

The 11 other active U.S. bishops who are already 75 and the dates of their 75th birthday are:

---Ruthenian Bishop Andrew Pataki of Passaic, N.J., Aug. 30, 2002.

---Bishop Manuel Batakian of the Eparchy of Our Lady of Nareg in New York for Armenian Catholics, Nov. 5, 2004.

---Bishop John J. Leibrecht of Springfield-Cape Girardeau, Mo., Aug. 8, 2005.

---Bishop Carl F. Mengeling of Lansing, Mich., Oct. 22, 2005.

---Bishop Raphael M. Fliss of Superior, Wis., Oct. 25, 2005.

---Auxiliary Bishop Emil A. Wcela of Rockville Centre, N.Y., May 1, 2006.

---Archbishop Thomas C. Kelly of Louisville, Ky., July 14, 2006.

---Bishop Charles V. Grahmann of Dallas, July 15, 2006.

---Archbishop Oscar H. Lipscomb of Mobile, Ala., Sept. 21, 2006.

---Bishop Victor Balke of Crookston, Minn., Sept. 29, 2006.

---Bishop John W. Yanta of Amarillo, Texas, Oct. 2, 2006.

---CNS