We have a Pope (1 Viewer)

[PayOrPlay]

who chooses the new pope's name?

Is it the cardinals or the pope who decides? or is there already a set list like hurricanes? do they already know what the names of the next 10 popes will be?

Just curious

The new pope picks his own name. It was much commented on when Cardinal Luciani chose"Giovanni Paolo" (or "Gianpaolo", a name not before used) as a tribute to his two immediate predecessors, and I imagine there will be considerable discussion about Bergoglio's apparent invocation of St. Francis. (A commentator on one of the news networks sounded a bit put out while noting that he didn't choose "Ignatius" despite being the first Jesuit.)

Too bad there were no Peter's from Rome in the running. St. Malachy's Prophecy of the Popes would have been fun reading on the doomsday sites. Heck, it still might be since this one is the 112th and, predicted, final pope.

That hasn't stopped 'em. See: Prophecy of the Popes - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

 

[coldseat]

who chooses the new pope's name?

Is it the cardinals or the pope who decides? or is there already a set list like hurricanes? do they already know what the names of the next 10 popes will be?

Just curious

After the pope is elected, he himself chooses his own name. So it's never known before hand what it will be. It also usually indicates what type of papacy he will have.

In this case, Saint Fancis of Assisi chose a life of poverty (though his parents were wealthy) in order to serve the poor. He also started the Franciscan Order among others.

 

[Jeff Miller]

Odin

 

[Semper]

Too bad there were no Peter's from Rome in the running. St. Malachy's Prophecy of the Popes would have been fun reading on the doomsday sites. Heck, it still might be since this one is the 112th and, predicted, final pope.

From what I read it was predicted there would be only 111 popes, however after a reprinting of St. Malachy's predictions it went to 112 for some reason.

 

[jcollins9]

Too bad there were no Peter's from Rome in the running. St. Malachy's Prophecy of the Popes would have been fun reading on the doomsday sites. Heck, it still might be since this one is the 112th and, predicted, final pope.

According to the church, he's the 267th one.

 

[PayOrPlay]

According to the church, he's the 267th one.

The prophecy is (supposedly) about the 112 popes starting with Celestine II in 1143. Francis is (supposedly) #112 but doesn't seem to correlate to the prophecy very well ("Peter the Roman, who will pasture his sheep in many tribulations, and when these things are finished, the city of seven hills will be destroyed, and the dreadful judge will judge his people.") Interpretation is up for grabs, of course.

 

[Sun Wukong]

From what I read it was predicted there would be only 111 popes, however after a reprinting of St. Malachy's predictions it went to 112 for some reason.

Though attributed to St. Malachy, the prophecies weren't actually published until around 400 years after his death. Many have observed that the descriptions of Popes prior to 1590 are very accurate, while the descriptions of popes after 1590 are not nearly as detailed or accurate. The logical conclusion being that they were a forgery that accurately described historical popes but failed to do as good a job of predicting subsequent ones. I mean, it said we were going to get Peter the Roman and we got Francis the Argentinean. That's about as wrong as you can possibly be.

For what it's worth, the Catholic Church (who loves them some miracles) has also long denounced them as fraudulent.

 

[IntenseSaint]

So I wonder what he is going to do about the issues with priests in the church who molest children.

 

[SaintsFanJeff]

Pope Palpatine will return!

 

[coldseat]

So I wonder what he is going to do about the issues with priests in the church who molest children.

In what respect do you mean? What would you have him do?

 

[RJ in Lafayette]

On cultural issues, he is very conservative. But then, given that the last two popes selected the cardinals making the selection, this is no surprise.

Given his age, his papacy should not be exceedingly long. It will be interesting to see the types of cardinals he appoints.

On the plus side, he is obviously highly regarded by his peers--he reportedly finished second in the balloting when Benedict was elected; he has a reputation for humility; he is highly intelligent (though again his graduate academic training, I think, was in theology and philosophy rather than a field like history); he comes from a continent that has not been well represented in Rome or the Church's power structure; and he is on political issues more flexible than many.

To those hoping for cultural changes in the Church--and I am one--the good news is that the new pope at 76 (and I wish him a long life) will likely not be pope for 20 years and that he may be more open in selecting new cardinals than John Paul and Benedict who packed the court.

 

[Lurkaholic]

Love that he's a Jesuit, obviously. So far, however, his commitment to social justice for the poor appears to be the only identifying factor. Particularly disappointed in his suggestion that the allowance of gay and lesbian couples to adopt children is a form of child abuse. That's a bold stone to throw in the glass house of Catholicism.

 

[St. Widge]

In what respect do you mean? What would you have him do?

Stop it? See those who did it and concealed it brought to justice?

 

[Uk Saint]

Im Happy... He was known as being extreamly clever (Speaks 6 languages) brings forward South America (the biggest catholic continent in the world) which is brilliant... he is also known as a reformer and this is really importent.

 

[Uk Saint]

Stop it? See those who did it and concealed it brought to justice?

this is somthing that i belive he will seek to change but do we know what will happen no not yet ... however i fear what we know now about the abuse is just the tip of the iceburg

but for tonight lets celebrate the change in pope and a fresh start