When the Cardinals have cast their votes and reached a two-thirds majority and we have a new pope, the world will soon know the name the 267th pope has chosen to be called.
The new pope will soon appear on the central balcony of the façade of St Peter’s Basilica, the Loggia of the Blessings where a Cardinal will proclaim to the thousands in the square below, and millions watching world-wide on television and streaming services, “Habemus Papam” – we have a pope. He will announce the new Holy Father’s Christian name, his surname, and finally the name he has chosen.
This name will be the first message the new pope will send to the world.
Jorge Mario Bergoglio, a Jesuit, surprised many by choosing the name Francis after St Francis of Assisi – “ a man of poverty, the man of peace, the man who loves and protects creation”. This name had never been used before, being the first pope to do so in more than 1,100 years, since Pope Lando in 913.
Pope Francis later suggested jokingly that he should have taken the name Clement XV “to get even with Clement XIV, who suppressed the Society of Jesus in the 1700s”.
The choice of name will set the tone for the new papacy. Generally popes choose a name of a previous pope or saint whom they admire and want to emulate.
There is one unwritten rule that all popes have abided by: nobody chooses the name Peter – the one pope Christ himself chose.
For the first 500 years of papal history, popes did not change their names. They kept their birth names.
Then popes began to name themselves after a pope who had gone before them but it wasn’t until the 11th century that choosing a regnal name had become the norm with the most popular names being John, Gregory, Benedict, Clement, and Innocent.
Whatever name the new pope chooses, there will be extensive commentary from those looking for predecessors’ agendas and legacies, trying to determine what direction the new pope will want to take the Church.
Some historians believe the reason the name John was so popular in the 20th century was because of its close association with the Gospel, as well as John the Baptist and John the Evangelist, John of the Cross and other saints.
A possible name from the 19th century is Leo XIV. The most recent pope of that name, Leo XIII is best remembered for his encyclical Rerum Novarum, the foundation of modern Catholic teaching.
Aside from popes there is also the possibility of Joseph, spouse of Mary and patron of the Universal Church, the Gospel writers Matthew and Luke, the Apostle Philip, Philip Neri, the apostle of Rome or Philip the deacon and evangelist.
Whatever the choice of name it will be contingent on who is elected, and what message he wants to send about his papacy.