# What name will the next Pope choose? **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [April 2, 2005, 9:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-name-will-the-next-pope-choose/297386 "2005-04-02T09:24:16Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2005, 8:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-name-will-the-next-pope-choose/297386/22 "2005-04-02T20:13:34Z")
Why not Pope Cecil I? 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2005, 8:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-name-will-the-next-pope-choose/297386/23 "2005-04-02T20:23:56Z")
> [@Kolak of Twilo](#): > > Now that I think about it, **Francis I** , in honor of Francis of Assisi would be an interesting choice. Odd no one has ever chosen that name. Too linked to two of the most influential orders ever, including the one that’s been disbanded twice. Francis Xavier and Francis Borgia were both Jesuits. Jesus, no way - Hispanics would just go “uh” but others would completely freak out. ---
**Author:** ![Frank](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Frank](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frank)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2005, 8:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-name-will-the-next-pope-choose/297386/24 "2005-04-02T20:44:03Z")
> [@Kolak of Twilo](#): > > Now that I think about it, **Francis I** , in honor of Francis of Assisi would be an interesting choice. Odd no one has ever chosen that name. Nuh-uh. Everytime I said my name, people would think I was the pope. ---
**Author:** ![Baker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/bb73d2/32.png) [@Baker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baker)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2005, 8:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-name-will-the-next-pope-choose/297386/25 "2005-04-02T20:52:43Z")
> [@Kolak of Twilo](#): > > Now that I think about it, **Francis I** , in honor of Francis of Assisi would be an interesting choice. Odd no one has ever chosen that name. The novel The Vicar Of Christ had the pope(an American, BTW) choosing that name. Very good book, except the poor guy was assasinated at the end ---
**Author:** ![Fear\_Itself](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fear_itself/32/19637_2.png) [@Fear\_Itself](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fear_Itself)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2005, 10:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-name-will-the-next-pope-choose/297386/26 "2005-04-02T22:43:34Z")
> [@takin](#): > > Plus in the prophecies of St. Malachy, in which the last pope was to be Peter of Rome. An interesting prophecy. If we hold to it, there is one pope between JPII and the Peter the Roman; the prophesy describes him as _Gloria Olivae_, or the Glory of Olives. The Order of St. Benedict is also known as the Olivetans, so a pope chosen from their order would fit the prophecy. Just for the _woo-woo_ factor, I nominate Benedict XVI. ---
**Author:** ![BobT](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/8e8cbc/32.png) [@BobT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BobT)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2005, 10:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-name-will-the-next-pope-choose/297386/27 "2005-04-02T22:55:41Z")
It won’t be Sixtus, because the next one would be Sixtus VI and that just sounds funny. And I believe in Italian that would be “Sixto Sexto”. ---
**Author:** ![mswas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e99b99/32.png) [@mswas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mswas)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2005, 11:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-name-will-the-next-pope-choose/297386/28 "2005-04-02T23:05:17Z")
In my experience in a Catholic funeral this morning, I felt that the church has such a lack of emotional resonance, that it has very little spiritual impact, and is hardly uplifting at all. This has been my assessment of Catholicism as long as I’ve been alive. So for this reason, I hope that those wishing for a more politically insignificant name do not get their wish, because I would like to see the power and mystery returned to the Church. That more than anything would be good for society, and more important than political motivations IMO. Erek ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2005, 11:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-name-will-the-next-pope-choose/297386/29 "2005-04-02T23:44:25Z")
> [@mswas](#): > > In my experience in a Catholic funeral this morning, I felt that the church has such a lack of emotional resonance, that it has very little spiritual impact, and is hardly uplifting at all. This has been my assessment of Catholicism as long as I’ve been alive. > > So for this reason, I hope that those wishing for a more politically insignificant name do not get their wish, because I would like to see the power and mystery returned to the Church. That more than anything would be good for society, and more important than political motivations IMO. > > Erek So what, IYO, would be an appropriate name, one evocative of “power and mystery”? ---
**Author:** ![Polycarp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/82dd89/32.png) [@Polycarp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Polycarp)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2005, 11:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-name-will-the-next-pope-choose/297386/30 "2005-04-02T23:46:41Z")
> [@tomndebb](#): > > Actually, if the next guy decides to honor this guy, I’m looking forward to the next pope being _John Paul II II_. He can’t be Pope John Paul II II; we Anglicans already have a retired Archbishop of Johannesburg named [Desmond II II](http://nobelprize.org/peace/laureates/1984/tutu-bio.html). 😃 As for the three-in-a-row bit, Popes Piux X, XI, and XII were in sequence, IIRC. For him to choose Leo XIV would indicate an inclination to emulate Leo XIII, who was like the recent late Pope a man of mixed accomplishments, but that choice would definitely serve as a slap in the face to Anglican relations. I’m curious what Morris West book this Pope Marx I was in; in _The Shoes of the Fisherman_, the Russian Cardinal who was elected used his birth name, Kiril (Cyril to us Westerners). ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2005, 12:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-name-will-the-next-pope-choose/297386/31 "2005-04-03T00:14:46Z")
> [@Nava](#): > > The reason to change names was explaned very well in a Japanese novel I once read. You change names to indicate that your “self” is/has changed: your priorities, your life’s work, are different now than they were before. There is a big difference between being the bishop of any other diocese, or an administrative “drudge” in the Vatican, and being the Vicar of Christ. Nitpick: According to this list of popes – [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List\_of\_popes](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_popes) – for the first five centuries of the papacy, the pope’s reign-name was always the same as his personal name. John II (Mercurius) was the first pope to take a new name upon his election, in 533 A.D.; and, with one exception, no pope followed his example until John XIV (Pietro Campanora, elected 983). After that, a different reign-name caught on as the norm. ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2005, 12:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-name-will-the-next-pope-choose/297386/32 "2005-04-03T00:18:24Z")
If you haven’t caught the news yet, the pope just died. RIP JPII. ---
**Author:** ![Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bosda_di_chi_of_tricor/32/16845_2.png) [@Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosda_Di_Chi_of_Tricor)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2005, 12:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-name-will-the-next-pope-choose/297386/33 "2005-04-03T00:41:29Z")
“Skippy”. Yes. “Skippy I”. That should de very nicely. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![wonky](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wonky/32/393_2.png) [@wonky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wonky)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2005, 12:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-name-will-the-next-pope-choose/297386/34 "2005-04-03T00:51:07Z")
I think the name chosen will reflect greatly on the new pope’s intentions. If, for example, he agrees with JPII on no married clergy, no female clergy, no gay marriages, etc., he’ll pick JPIII. If he’s going to be more “radical,” he’ll pick a different name. Maybe something that hasn’t been used before. But I do expect the name to make a statement. ---
**Author:** ![BobT](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/8e8cbc/32.png) [@BobT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BobT)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2005, 12:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-name-will-the-next-pope-choose/297386/35 "2005-04-03T00:57:44Z")
Pius has had a checkered recent past. Pius IX reigned for a long time (31 years), but lost the Papal lands and had a tumultuous reign. But Pius X became a saint. Pius XI got to see the world plunge into an economic depression. Pius XII had a lot of problems and history has not been kind to him. I think the name has been retired. Interestingly, I believe the practice for referring to a pope who became a saint, is Pope Saint (Name). ---
**Author:** ![Kolak\_of\_Twilo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kolak_of_twilo/32/73_2.png) [@Kolak\_of\_Twilo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kolak_of_Twilo)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2005, 1:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-name-will-the-next-pope-choose/297386/36 "2005-04-03T01:06:08Z")
> [@Polycarp](#): > > As for the three-in-a-row bit, Popes Piux X, XI, and XII were in sequence, IIRC. Sorry **Polycarp** , [Benedict XV](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pope_Benedict_XV)fell between Pius X and Pius XI. I’ve been looking over the list of Popes since my friend made that comment and I honestly don’t see more than two in a row with the same name. Of course, as I said that doesn’t necessarily mean anything. It’s just kind of interesting. ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2005, 1:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-name-will-the-next-pope-choose/297386/37 "2005-04-03T01:09:59Z")
If a pope chooses a name with a high roman numeral – one that’s been used by a lot of popes before – then he’s not necessarily tied to honoring/emulating/inviting comparisons with the most **recent** pope of that name, is he? It could be in honor of any one of them. ---
**Author:** ![gobear](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/8dc957/32.png) [@gobear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gobear)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2005, 2:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-name-will-the-next-pope-choose/297386/38 "2005-04-03T02:20:57Z")
I understand that one of the front runners is a Nigerian cardinal. If he is elected, I hope he takes the name Pope Leroy, if only to see the expression on Pat Buchanan’s face. ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Blue\_Sky](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d26b3c/32.png) [@Mr.Blue\_Sky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Blue_Sky)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2005, 2:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-name-will-the-next-pope-choose/297386/39 "2005-04-03T02:45:16Z")
Onarope I ---
**Author:** ![Baker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/bb73d2/32.png) [@Baker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baker)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2005, 2:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-name-will-the-next-pope-choose/297386/40 "2005-04-03T02:51:47Z")
I remember an episode of Crusade, a spin-off/sequel series to Babylon 5. You can just catch a glimpse of a broadcast from Vatican City, where the Pope was leading a procession in St. Peter’s Square. Just a little figure in white, couldn’t see the face. Name of the Pope? Bernadette II !! 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Baker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/bb73d2/32.png) [@Baker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baker)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2005, 2:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-name-will-the-next-pope-choose/297386/41 "2005-04-03T02:55:38Z")
But seriously, Innocent might not be so far off the mark, as a possible choice. Innocent III was one of the “greats”, concerned with church influence and power. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-name-will-the-next-pope-choose/297386.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-name-will-the-next-pope-choose/297386.md?page=3)