My "Popes and the Tale of Their Names" Book

I started studying papal history, in earnest, a few years ago.  It didn't take long before I was getting confounded (more than usual) by a lack of specificity when it came to papal names. Though there is an Everest of work on the popes, much of it the result of meticulous research, I kept on drawing blanks when I wanted to dig into matters related to papal names.

I was struck that the sixth 'pope' to succeed St. Peter was named Sixtus I -- given that 'sixtus,' in Latin, denotes sixth. I was surprised that St. Irenaeus, the Bishop of Lyon (c. 178), one of the early writers on Christianity, when enumerating the Bishops of Rome that followed the Apostles wrote, without expressing any surprise that: "... then, sixth from the Apostles, Sixtus was appointed; ..." [In Adversus Haereses (Against Heresies) Vol III, Chapter 3, Paragraph 3.]

The sixth after St. Peter being named 'Sixtus' seemed rather propitious.

Then there was St. Anacletus, the second 'pope' after St. Peter, who was listed in the martyrs celebrated at Mass as just 'Cletus.' That appeared to have been quite a slip, particularly given that 'Anacletus' is a Greek word for 'blameless' -- an attribute that St. Paul had said was a prerequisite for a bishop in <Titus 1:7>. Yes, it was true that freed slaves were often called 'Anacletus,' because of the blameless aspect, but that alone would not explain why this early 'pope' was referred to by two names -- especially when this resulted in people thinking that there has been two separate 'popes,' one Greek, one Roman, one called 'Cletus' and the other 'Anacletus.' Being an ex-slave was not an impediment to becoming a pope. St. Callistus I (sometimes Callixtus I), best known now for the Roman catacombs named after him, was well known as a slave.

Then there was St. Zephyrinus. He became 'pope' at a time when there was growing tension between Rome and the churches in the East -- to do with when Easter should be celebrated. 'Zephyrinus' is Greek for the West Wind. So a 'pope' that is elected at a time when the West is trying to impose its wishes on the East just happened to have a name that connotes changes from the West.

My curiosity, akin to that that killed the cat, was aroused.

I had to start looking into papal names, their meaning and the history of papal name changes.

The outcome of that research is this book "The Popes and the Tale of Their Names."

I could, as ever, be wrong, but I think you will like this book. It has a lot of brand new information. I even managed to come up with the rationales for all 125 documented papal name changes -- with only about 30%,  clearly demarcated,  being  suppositions on my part. I also came up with a revised history of papal name changes.

Lets take Julius II, the so called 'warrior pope,' who gave us Michelangelo's immortal Sistine Chapel ceiling. You will find claims that he assumed this name because he admired Julius Caesar or wanted to follow in the footsteps of the 4th century pope St. Julius I. In reality he did not change his name! Julius is not an assumed name. His birth name was Giuliano della Rovere -- with 'Giuliano' being an Italian variant of  'Julius.'  So he is another 16th century pope, along with Hadrian VI and Marccellus II, that retained his birth name. You will be hard pressed to find this anywhere else than in my book.

Written by Anura Guruge