Laurie wrote: > I believe the pope chooses his own name. I know Pope John Paul took the one of the > previous pope who lived only a few weeks after getting elected..and that one took > the names of the previous 2. I don't think you will ever see a Pope Tyrone or Elroy > though.
Yes, each chooses his new ruling name, and JP II did take the name to honor his immediate predecessor, who only lived as pope for 37 days, IIRC. JP I took the double name, the first ever used, to honor his two immediate predecessors, John XXIII and Paul VI. (In fact, the news media had a hard time digesting the double name at first and reported it as John XXIV.) Besides John and Paul, the other name used most often the last century was Pius, IIRC. Best wishes, Lowell ________________________________ Changes to your subscription (unsubs, nomail, digest) can be made by going to http://sandboxmail.net/mailman/listinfo/sndbox_sandboxmail.net
