March 13, 2013, 7:06 p.m. in Rome: white smoke escapes from the Chapelle Sistine chapel, a sign that a new pope has been chosen. An hour later, the name of Cardinal Elected, Jorge Mario Bergoglio, is announced, to be immediately forgotten: his name will be François, thus becoming the first sovereign pontiff to carry this name of reign.
The scene will reproduce this week in Rome this week, while the 267th Pope in history must be elected by the cardinals gathered in conclave on Wednesday morning. Tradition has it that the dean of the Cardinals College asks in Latin to the newly elected Pope: “What name do you want to be called?” His reign name is then proclaimed the crowd by Cardinal Protodiacre from the central balcony of the Saint-Pierre basilica, still in Latin.
A first brand on the pontificate
In contemporary history, a reason invoked to justify the choice of a name is the reference to a predecessor to which the new elected representative intends to express his gratitude, his moral or intellectual filiation. This can “be also the first sign that a new pope gives on the brand he intends to give to his pontificate”, according to whether he takes the name of a conservative or progressive pope, explains the Vaticanist John Allen in a book on conclaves.
The German Joseph Ratzinger, pope from 2005 to 2013, explained that he chose to be called Benoît XVI “in reference to Benoît XV, who guided the Church in the difficult period of the First World War”.
As for John Paul II, Pope from 1978 to 2005, he explained wanted to symbolically register in the line of his predecessor Jean Paul I, suddenly died only 33 days after his election.
“I wanted to bear the same names that my very loved predecessor had chosen,” said the Polish pope, while such a double name was unprecedented in the history of the papacy.
-“Often, however, warns John Allen, the popes choose a name because they want to honor a member of their family or a saint, so it is important not to overly” this choice.
In 2013, Jorge Bergoglio had created the surprise by referring to the Italian Saint François d’Assise, the defender of the poor in the 13th century. A choice announcing a whole program, since the Italian saint of Assisi had a decisive change in Christianity and was quickly nicknamed the alter Christus, “the other Christ”, after his death in 1226.
Jean and Benoît, the most common names
In the millennial history of the papacy, the most used name is Jean, followed by Benoît, Grégoire, Clément, Innocent, Léon and Pie.
Strangely, no sovereign pontiff has chosen the name of Peter II, out of respect for the first pope, but also perhaps because according to a prophecy the advent of the second stone will lead to the destruction of Rome and trigger the apocalypse.
Formose is not highly rated either, because the only pope to have bore his name was exhumed in the ninth century by his successor who hated him, Stéphane VII, and tried to have illegally occupied the throne of Saint Peter. He was then condemned and his fingers which gave the blessing were decided and his body thrown into the Tiber.
Some names also have a negative connotation because of the Pope’s personality to have carried it: Pius XII, criticized for his silence during the Holocaust, Grégoire VII, elected in 1073 and accused of necromancy, or even Alexandre VI, a borgia famous for his debauchery.
