hi, i'm doing a report, and i'm having trouble finding out how the pope chooses his name. please answer a.s.a.p.

-- kim (babiguh125@aol.com), November 30, 2000

Answers

Response to how does the pope choose his name?

K

Each pope is free to choose any name he wishes.
I believe that most popes have chosen the name of a saint or previous pope whom they admired -- to act as a special patron saint (model and intercessor).
Out of respect for the first pope's uniqueness, no other pope has chosen the name "Peter."
The last two popes, John Paul I and II, chose their names to honor the previous two popes, John XXIII and Paul VI.

SN

-- Slave Nolonger (free@long.last), December 01, 2000.

Response to how does the pope choose his name?

yeah i know im doin a report too and i need to know how the pope chooses his nem..... so all he does is choose his fav saint? sorta like confermatio

-- sarah (apupiggymart@aol.com), December 03, 2000.

Response to how does the pope choose his name?

Yes, but WHY does he even feel the need to choose a name?

Kinda like "having" to go by j-lo or puff daddy?

-- jason (BEGALKE1@hotmail.com), June 29, 2001.

i heard that john paul ii chose the name to "continue the changes begun by john paul i"

-- mike (jakubczak_junior@yahoo.com), March 17, 2004.

And what were those changes, Mike?

Since Pope John Paul I's papacy lasted only one month, I don't believe that he had "begun" to make any significant changes.

I believe that both John Pauls took their names to honor their two predecessors (with whom they had had close friendships) and perhaps to indicate that they would continue the implementation of the Church's renewal as foreseen by the two popes who oversaw the Second Vatican Council.

-- (What's@InA.Name?), March 18, 2004.

It seems that there's been no real single standard throughout history for "pontifical onomastics" (e.g. the reasoning behind papal names.) Motives have ranged from honoring those who have helped a new pope, to recalling those who have helped the new popes' families, or even to reinforcing "political interests".

This last motive can be seen most prominently during the Great Schism when the Roman Pope-names recalled prior Roman names, and the Avignon Popes chose the names of Popes partial to France.

In an article by Bernd-Ulrich Hergemöller for "The Papacy: An Encyclopedia", we find the following regarding "recent" Popes:

----------- From the 16th century, the name chosen has invariably been inspired by the principle of pietas: PAUL IV, GREGORY XIV, CLEMENT X, INNOCENT XI, INNOCENT XII, CLEMENT XII, CLEMENT XIII, BENEDICT XIV, CLEMENT XIV, PIUS VII, PIUS VIII, and PIUS XII took the names of those predecessors who had raised them to the cardinalate.

JULIUS III, PAUL V, and GREGORY XV chose the name of the pope who had launched them on their curial CAREER.

CLEMENT VIII, LEO XI, INNOCENT X, ALEXANDER VII, and INNOCENT XIII chose the name of the pope who had actively supported their family.

PAUL IV, PIUS V, SIXTUS V, and ALEXANDER VIII adopted the names of those predecessors whose nephews had contributed to their election.

Taking a predecessor’s name not only was a way of giving symbolic thanks but also implied the wish to be faithful to a spiritual heritage. Hence the stereotypical, conservative character of pontifical names in the modern era. Julius, Marcellus, and Sixtus were chosen once; as for the others, the choice of names over the roughly four centuries from the council of TRENT to VATICAN II boils down to nine: Paul, Pius, Gregory, Urban, Innocent, Clement, Leo, Alexander, and Benedict. In the 17th and 18th centuries, the name Clement takes the lead, and then, until 1958, the name Pius.

John XXIII (A. Roncalli, 1958) was the first to take the name of a medieval pope, thus symbolically emphasizing the end of the “papacy of the Piuses.” His successor PAUL VI’s choice was a subjective one, inspired primarily by a theological consideration. John Paul I was the first pope in history to adopt a double name, but his choice still obeyed the principle of respectful pietas toward his predecessors. The pontifical name of JOHN PAUL II invokes the memory of his three immediate predecessors.

-- jason (begalke 1 @ hotmail.com), December 21, 2004.

Jason, he doesn’t HAVE to choose a new name. He is perfectly free to choose to continue to be known by his baptismal name if he wishes. The custom of choosing a new name began around the tenth century for 2 reasons: – because a bishop named Peter was chosen and he thought it would be arrogant to call himself Peter II; and several popes who were chosen from the newly-converted north of Europe who had Germanic names, adopted Latin names that the Roman faithful could more easily get their tongue around.

-- Steve (55555@aol.com), December 21, 2004.