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Originally posted by AXiD670
Neither of the ladies in my office who are Catholic were able to answer this, so I thought I'd come here to GC.
Does the new pope get to pick his own name, or is there some sort of assigning process? I was just curious why he would pick Benedict XVI instead of something like John Paul III (for example) or whatever.
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Habemus Papam! Benedictus XV!, Deo gratias!
The new Pope picks his own name. Usually it reflects a Saint or previous Pope that the newly elected Pope feels admiration for or is influenced by, but it is purely up to him.
My guess is that Pope Benedict XVI will carry on in the same tradition as his predecessor. They were close friends and saw eye to eye in just about everything.
One key bit to consider is that he is considered to be shy and gentle in his approach. He is a strict conservative but apparently finds it difficult to be gratuituously hard on people.
In any case he has a hard job ahead of him and we would do well to ask for help and guidance for him. Oremus!
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