Previous Benedict rejected orthodoxy

GERMAN Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, the strict defender of Catholic orthodoxy for the past 23 years, took the name Benedict XVI.

His choice of name is intriguing, because the last Pope Benedict, who reigned from 1914 to 1922, subtly repudiated the strict Vatican orthodoxy practised under his predecessor Pius X, said former Vatican diplomat John-Peter Pham.

Benedict XV also tried in vain to end World War I, opened the Vatican to international diplomacy and sent so much wartime aid to Turkey that Istanbul erected a statue to him, he said.

“Benedict was an understated, quiet pontiff,” Pham said. “He was very uncomfortable in large groups and almost wilted in those settings. But he was an administrator and a diplomat.”

If Roman Catholicism’s next leader had called himself John Paul III, that would signal continuity. “John” would connote a gentle father, while “Pius” could herald an era of deep conservatism. A name from the distant papal past - improbable ones like Zephyrinus, Hilarus or Formosus - would send Catholics scurrying for history books.

The maxim “Nomen est omen” (Latin for “a name is a sign”) is as valid today for Popes as it was for ancient Romans, whose emperors took new names or titles when they assumed power.

“It’s a practice that goes back as far as the Book of Genesis, where Abram changed his name to Abraham,” said Pham. “Simon changed his name to Peter, which means rock,” he added. “Because Christ said he was the rock on which he would build the Church.” There is no law saying Popes must choose a new name, but a tradition more than 1,000 years old cannot be ignored. Popes declare their choice right after being elected.

The first Pope known to have changed his name was John II in 533. He was previously called Mercury, but thought the Christian pontiff should not have the name of a pagan Roman god. This became more common after an 18-year-old with another name from pagan times, Octavian, was chosen in a rigged election in 955 and took the name John XII.