Papal name

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A papal name is a regnal name taken by popes since the Sixth Century.

Contents 1 History 2 Symbolism 3 Current practice 4 Frequency 5 Notes 6 References

[edit] History

During the first centuries of the church, men elected bishop of Rome continued to use their baptismal names after their elections. The custom of choosing a new name began in AD 533 with the election of Mercurius.^[1] Mercurius had been named after the Roman god Mercury, and decided that it would not be appropriate for a pope to be named after a Roman god. Mercurius subsequently decreed that he would be known as John II. Since the end of the tenth century the pope has customarily chosen a new name for himself during his Pontificate; however, until the 16th century some men used their baptismal names.

The last pope to use his baptismal name was Pope Marcellus II in 1555, a choice that was even then quite exceptional. The names chosen by popes are not based on any system other than general honorifics. They have been based on immediate predecessors, mentors, political similarity, or even after family members—as was the case with Pope John XXIII. The practice of a man using his baptismal name as pope has not been ruled out and future popes could elect to continue using their baptismal names after being elected pope.

In 1978 Cardinal Albino Luciani became the first Pope to take a double name. He took the name John Paul I to honor his two immediate predecessors - Popes John XXIII and Paul VI; he had been elevated to bishop by John XXIII, then to patriarch of Venice and Cardinal by Paul VI. After John Paul I died suddenly shortly afterward, Cardinal Karol Józef Wojtyła was elected and, wishing to continue what John Paul I had started, became the second Pope to take a double name when he became John Paul II.

[edit] Symbolism

Often the man's choice of name upon being elected to the papacy is seen as a signal to the world of who the new pope will emulate, what policies he will seek to enact, or even the length of his reign. Such is the case with Benedict XVI - it was speculated that he chose the name because he wished to emulate the last Pope Benedict, and to also call attention to the fact that at 7.5 years that Benedict XV's reign was a relatively short one.

There has never been a Pope Peter II. Even though there is no specific prohibition against doing so, men elected to the Papacy have refrained from doing so. This is because of a tradition that only Saint Peter should have that honor. In the 10th century John XIV used the regnal name John because his given name was Peter. While some antipopes did take the name Peter II, their claims are not recognized by the mainstream Roman Catholic Church, and each of these men only either has or had a minuscule following which recognized their claims.

Probably because of the controversial Antipope John XXIII, men avoided taking the regnal name John for over 600 years until the election of John XXIII. Immediately after John's election as Pope in 1958, there was some confusion as to whether he would be known as John XXIII or John XXIV. John himself ended the confusion by deciding that he would be known as John XXIII. If possible, the number used by an antipope is ignored.

[edit] Current practice

Immediately after a new pope is elected, and accepts the election, he is asked by the Dean of the College of Cardinals, "By what name shall you be called?" The new Pope chooses the name by which he will be known from that point on. The senior Cardinal Deacon, or Cardinal Protodeacon, then appears on the balcony of Saint Peter's to proclaim the new Pope, informing the world of the man elected Pope, and under which name he would be known during his reign.

Annuntio vobis gaudium magnum:
Habemus Papam!
Eminentissimum ac Reverendissimum Dominum,
Dominum [forename],
Sanctæ Romanæ Ecclesiæ Cardinalem [surname],
qui sibi nomen imposuit [papal name].

I announce to you a great joy:
We have a Pope!
The Most Eminent and Most Reverend Lord,
Lord [forename],
Cardinal of the Holy Roman Church [surname],
who takes to himself the name [papal name].

[edit] Frequency

John	I	II	III	IV	V	VI	VII	VIII	IX	X	XI	XII	XIII	XIV	XV	—	XVII	XVIII	XIX	—	XXI	XXII	XXIII
Gregory	I	II	III	IV	V	VI	VII	VIII	IX	X	XI	XII	XIII	XIV	XV	XVI
Benedict	I	II	III	IV	V	VI	VII	VIII	IX	—	XI	XII	XIII	XIV	XV	XVI
Clement	I	II	III	IV	V	VI	VII	VIII	IX	X	XI	XII	XIII	XIV
Innocent	I	II	III	IV	V	VI	VII	VIII	IX	X	XI	XII	XIII
Leo	I	II	III	IV	V	VI	VII	VIII	IX	X	XI	XII	XIII
Pius	I	II	III	IV	V	VI	VII	VIII	IX	X	XI	XII
Stephen	I	II	III	IV	V	VI	VII	VIII	IX
Boniface	I	II	III	IV	V	VI	—	VIII	IX
Urban	I	II	III	IV	V	VI	VII	VIII
Alexander	I	II	III	IV	—	VI	VII	VIII
Adrian	I	II	III	IV	V	VI
Paul	I	II	III	IV	V	VI
Celestine	I	II	III	IV	V
Martin	I	—	—	IV	V
Nicholas	I	II	III	IV	V
Sixtus (or Xystus)	I	II	III	IV	V
Felix	I	—	III	IV
Sergius	I	II	III	IV
Anastasius	I	II	III	IV
Honorius	I	II	III	IV
Eugene	I	II	III	IV
Sylvester	I	II	III
Victor	I	II	III
Lucius	I	II	III
Callixtus	I	II	III
Julius	I	II	III
Pelagius	I	II
Adeodatus (or Deusdedit)	I	II
Theodore	I	II
Marinus	I	II
Agapetus	I	II
Damasus	I	II
Paschal	I	II
Gelasius	I	II
Marcellus	I	II
John Paul	I	II
Peter	I
Linus	I
Anacletus (or Cletus)	I
Evaristus	I
Telesphorus	I
Hyginus	I
Anicetus	I
Soter	I
Eleuterus	I
Zephyrinus	I
Pontian	I
Anterus	I
Fabian	I
Cornelius	I
Dionysius	I
Eutychian	I
Caius (ou Gaius)	I
Marcellinus	I
Eusebius	I
Miltiades	I
Mark	I
Liberius	I
Siricius	I
Zosimus	I
Hilarius	I
Simplicius	I
Symmachus	I
Hormisdas	I
Silverius	I
Vigilius	I
Sabinian	I
Severinus	I
Vitalian	I
Donus	I
Agatho	I
Conon	I
Sisinnius	I
Constantine	I
Zachary	I
Valentine	I
Formosus	I
Romanus	I
Lando	I

[edit] Notes

[edit] References

• McCLintock, John. 1891. Cyclopaedia of Biblical, Theological, and Ecclesiastical Literature. Harper & Brothers. (Available online)