Pope What's'isname

[Star]

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What are the political implications of the name the Pope chooses?


How the pope picks his name and why it matters


Caitlin Dewey
March 12, 2013

When the new pope is chosen, he’ll select a papal name. And oddsmakers are betting his choice will be Leo — though Gregory, Pius and Peter also sound like good picks.

That’s according to the oft-quoted PaddyPower.com, the Irish gambling site that has placed more than $450,000 in papal bets. But the guesses aren’t exactly wild conjecture. Papal naming dates back to 533, when Mercurius switched out his name for the more Biblical John I, and Vatican-watchers say the pope’s name choice reflects the issues and philosophy of his time.

“They’re thinking about something when they choose this name,” William Portier, the chair of Catholic theology at the University of Dayton, told Canada’s CTV. “It’s not just something that they think sounds good — they consider it to be a weighty thing.”

For instance, picking Leo — current odds, 47 percent — would pay tribute to the late 19th-century Pope Leo XIII, who wrote extensively on social justice issues and tried to calibrate the church with the modern world. A Leo XIV would theoretically be “a modern social-justice pope,” Michael Dougherty theorizes at Slate.

But picking Pius — current odds, 18 percent — would be “kind of scary to me,” said Portier, the Catholic theologian. Pius XI, who led the church during Napoleon’s reign, made his mark as a traditionalist defying secular states.

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[Star]

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If the new Pope chooses the name Leo, expect the Catholic Church to become a much more progressive church...


"One reason compelling Leo XIII to write Rerum Novarum was his conviction that the present age has handed over the working poor to inhumane employers and greedy competitors (a. 6). He saw the working poor as needy and helpless (a.66) and insufficiently protected against injustices and violence (a. 32). His sympathy went out to these poor, who have a "downcast heart" (a. 37).

There has been a strong tendency under capitalism to judge the poor harshly. Leo was not party to such judgment. He felt that most of the working poor live undeservedly in miserable and wretched conditions (a. 5). The poor work so that they can procure and retain property and in order to get the means necessary for livelihood (a. 9), and most of the working poor prefer to secure better conditions by honest toil, without doing wrong to anyone (a. 55). The pope did, however, acknowledge that the working poor are envious of the rich (a. 7), and he thought that the minds of the working poor are inflamed and always ready for disorder (a. 66)."
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[g5000]

Ya gotta love Irish Catholics.

 

[Saigon]

I have always thought Pope Mohammed would have a nice ring to it....also Pope Kim would be popular in Asia.

Or for an American Pope - why not Pope Washington?

 

[waltky]

New Pope gonna be Pope Frankie...

Argentina's Bergoglio elected Pope
13 March 2013 - Argentine Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio, elected as the Catholic Church's new Pope, Francis, has greeted crowds in St Peter's Square in Rome.

Appearing on a balcony over the square, he asked the faithful to pray for him. Cheers erupted as he gave a blessing. The 76-year-old from Buenos Aires is the first Latin American and the first Jesuit to be pontiff. An hour earlier, white smoke from the Sistine Chapel chimney announced the new Pope's election. He will be installed officially in an inauguration Mass on Tuesday 19 March, the Vatican said. Pope Francis replaces Benedict XVI, who resigned last month at the age of 85, saying he was not strong enough to lead the Church. He has telephoned Benedict and is planning to meet him, a Vatican spokesman said.

Pope Francis takes the helm at a difficult time for the Catholic Church, facing an array of challenges which include the role of women, interfaith tensions and dwindling congregations in some parts of the world. The BBC's James Robbins, in St Peter's Square, says that at first the crowd was unsure who this man was, but they seemed to warm to his humour. He began his address to the crowds by offering a prayer for his predecessor. In a light-hearted moment, he said his fellow cardinals had gone to the "ends of the Earth" to find a bishop of Rome. He went on to ask the crowd to "pray to God so that he can bless me", before calling on the world to set off on a path of love and fraternity.

'Huge gift'

"Habemus Papam Franciscum," was the first tweet by the papal account @pontifex since Benedict stood down last month. The election was met with thunderous applause at the cathedral in Buenos Aires, Pope Francis' home city. Throughout Latin America - home to 40% of the world's 1.2 billion Catholics - people reacted with delight and surprise. "It's a huge gift for all of Latin America. We waited 20 centuries. It was worth the wait," said Jose Antonio Cruz, a Franciscan friar in the Puerto Rican capital San Juan, quoted by the Associated Press. "Everyone from Canada down to Patagonia is going to feel blessed. This is an event."

US President Barack Obama sent "warm wishes" on behalf of the American people to the newly elected pontiff, hailing the Argentine as "the first pope from the Americas." Argentina's President Christina Fernandez de Kirchner wished him a "fruitful pastoral mission". She is expected to attend the Pope's inauguration Mass on Tuesday, as is US Vice President Joe Biden, himself a Catholic. UK Prime Minister David Cameron said it was a "momentous day" for Catholics, while Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby, leader of the world's Anglicans, offered him "every blessing". "I look forward to meeting Pope Francis, and to walking and working together to build on the consistent legacy of our predecessors," he said in a statement.

More BBC News - Argentina's Jorge Mario Bergoglio elected Pope Francis

 

[Cowman]

Some popes have weird ass names.

 

[aaronleland]

Pope Francis it is. And it wasn't even on the list. I was personally rooting for Pope Cheney.

 

[Saigon]

Well, at least he isn't the usual white European....

 

[varelse]

The first honest pope name: Pope Molestus Paedophilius, High Priest of the Universal Roman Church of Pederasty