Posted on 04/16/2005 4:46:53 PM PDT by NYer
VATICAN CITY (Reuters) - The first message a new pope sends to the world is encoded in the name he chooses.
If Roman Catholicism's next leader calls 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 to their history books to see what it could mean.
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 John-Peter Pham, a former Vatican diplomat and papal historian.
"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.
POPE STANISLAS?
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 decided to take the name John XII. A man named Peter opted for Sergius IV in 1009 out of respect for the first pope.
Popes who bore the name Pius made it synonymous with deep conservativism.
Pius IX (1846-1878) rejected democracy, Pius X (1903-1914) denounced modern liberal politics and Pius XI (1922-1939) ran the Church in an autocratic way, Pham said. Under Pius XII (1939-1958), the Church cracked down on liberal theologians.
Cardinal Angelo Roncalli reportedly spent the evening before his election as John XXIII in 1958 thumbing through a list of popes to check what earlier Johns had done.
When Albino Luciani was elected in 1978, he took the first double name in papal history, John Paul I, to show he wanted to combine John XXIII's reforms with the more traditional stand of his immediate predecessor, Paul VI (1963-1978).
When John Paul I died 33 days later, Cardinal Karol Wojtyla of Poland honored him by taking the name John Paul II. "It is said that he considered something more Slavic, like Stanislas, but then thought the better of it," Pham said.
The next pope could be tempted to call himself John Paul III. But if Wojtyla goes down in history as John Paul the Great, as his supporters want, a successor taking his name could risk being known as John Paul the Lesser.
PUNTERS PICKS
Without knowing the identity of the next pope, it is hard to guess which name he will pick -- but that hasn't stopped Dublin bookmakers Paddy Power from opening betting on it.
A surprise choice -- Benedict -- leads the pack ahead of John Paul and John, mostly because someone has placed an unusually large bet on it, company spokesman Paddy Power said.
The choice of Benedict could signal a subtle shift to more moderate policies, judging from the way the Benedict XV turned away from Pius X's rigorous anti-modern stand, Pham said.
"We were surprised because we thought John Paul or John would certainly be on top," said Power, who had no explanation for Benedict's popularity.
"There seems to be some connection between Cardinal Jean-Marie Lustiger and the name Benedict," he said, referring to the former Paris archbishop deemed too old to be in the race.
"The same person who put a big bet on Lustiger also bet big on Benedict."
Thanks, but no - I put in my application, but they said that something in the background check just didn't pan out.
Now you say it's a "bastardized" metaphor - well, it's clearly a metaphor, because Saint Peter was not a chunk of granite at the foot of Mt. Hermon.
I think you just showed me a weasel.
Pope Eggman? Pope Walrus?
"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."
I couldn't really keep reading after this. These men didn't change their names. God changed their names.
What's a John-Peter Pham? Sounds like a liberation-theology anti-catholic.
How about Ronaldus Magnus II?
John Paul George Ringo?
I said it was "A" rock not "THE" rock... big difference..
I said Nothing about "THIS" anything..
We might be on the same page here..
He was out all night with the Grand Marquis...
What eclipse? I didn't hear about any eclipse.
I thought GPZ meant how did you translate that Greek so fast!!
Bang Bang Maxwells silver hammer came down on his head,
Bang Bang Maxwells silver hammer MADE SURE HE WAS DEAD
See??????
There IS no "a" (indefinite article) in Greek. If the speaker means "a", he uses no article at all (you can't tell the difference in Greek between "rock" and "a rock"; they are the same).
In this passage, Christ doesn't say "the" -- he says "this very" - the word tauth -transliterated taute - you may recognize it from our word tautology. It means "the same". It's intensified with the demonstrative pronoun th , so it's not just "this rock" - it's "this very same rock right here". Don't see how he could be much more emphatic than that. It just isn't possible that he meant "a" rock.
Seriously, greekbible.com is a wonderful resource with a built-in lexicon (I check it against Liddell & Scott though). I had two years of Classical and Homeric Greek in college, and I continue to read it for fun. Although I do read a lot of koine (New Testament-era) Greek now, I never studied it in school.
Besides, you know the "this rock" - "a rock" (or sometimes "a pebble") argument just comes up ALL the time . . . < g >
Pope Peal...
But wait... There's more... for only $19.95...
John Paul George Ringo
Yes, I like that name.
Was that you that I was talking that over shortly before the Pope died? Someone had mentioned the ceremony for the Pope's death included tapping him on the head with a silver hammer...
Not at all if you "get" the metaphor.. If you do not get it, the metaphor can mean a number of things.. Thats usually why a metaphore IS used, to make a partivular point.. Not to forget he was talking about a meeting place made of many rocks.. while he was saying the very metaphor to THAT rock..
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