Popes and the Papacy

Catholic News Agency Reviews My 'Pope Names' Book

I was happy to see this review by Brother Benet S. Exton of St. Gregory's University, Shawnee, Oklahoma:

http://www.catholicnewsagency.com/columns.php?sub_id=4

You can get the book from Amazon:

To Order Book from Amazon

Thank you.

Anura Guruge

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

The Six Multiple Use Names That Were Never Assumed

In my first batch of papal statistics I said that there were six shared (i.e. multiple use) elemental papal names that were never assumed by other popes. That means that these six names always occurred as birth names or possibly priestly names (i.e., a name assumed when ordained as priest or monk).

These six names are: Felix, Agapetus, Marcellus, Marinus, Pelagius and Theodore.

There were three popes named Felix, viz. I (269-274), III (483-492) and IV (526-530). [Felix II, 355-365, was an antipope.]

In the case of the other five names, there have only been two popes, each, with those names.

Marcellus II, 9 April 1555 to 1 May 1555, happens to be the last pope, to date, to have retained his prior name.

With the exception of Marcellus II, all the other popes with these six names were from the 1st millennium.

'John Paul I' - The Three Naming Innovations

Albino Luciani, on being elected pope on 26 August 1978, chose to be known as John Paul I. With this name he honored John XXIII for making him a bishop, and Paul VI for his elevation to cardinal.

The name 'John Paul I' contained three innovations:

1. It was the first instance when a pope wished to be known during his lifetime as 'the first.'
   (Prior to this, a pope selecting a new papal name would not be referred to as 'the first' during his lifetime. This would only occur when a subsequent pope elected to use that same basic name).
   
   
2. It was the first instance of an assumed name that had not been the prior (or birth) name of a former pope.
   
3. First twofold name.

51 days later, on 16 October 1987, when Karol Wojtyla, chose to be John Paul II, to honor his short-lived predecessor, another milestone in papal history was crossed.

This was the only instance when the first two occurrences of a papal name were consecutive, i.e. 'I' and 'II' with no other popes in between.

Prior to this, there were on average 81 intervening popes between the first and second occurrence of a papal name.

The gap between Pius I and Pius II spanned ~1,317 years and involved 200 intervening popes!

Papal Name Statistics

I have been researching all aspects of papal names for the last 18 months.

I managed to find the meanings (and origins) of all of the birth (or prior) names, e.g., 'Anacletus' - blameless (in Greek), 'Lucius' - bringer of light (in Latin), 'John' - God is gracious (in Hebrew) etc.

There are 125 documented instances of popes assuming a new name upon being elected. I managed, though it was a struggle, to come up with rationales for all 125 of these name changes -- albeit with about 30% being logical, justifiable suppositions.

I also tried to determine whether there were undocumented name changes prior to that of John II in January 533. There appears to be a high probability that early Roman priests assumed Greek priestly names upon being ordained. So some of the names that we now think of as being birth names were probably priestly names.

One such priestly name was 'Xystus' -- which can denote 'tonsured,' a look supposedly popularized in Rome by St. Peter. This appears to have been the name of the 6th pope after St. Peter. But he was soon to be known as Sixtus -- which just happens to mean the 6th.

I documented everything that I learned during this 18 month papal name project -- which was essentially my latest hobby. I hope to be able to share this information with you in the coming months.

But to get us started, I, today, posted the core papal name statistics. Please click here to visit this "Papal Statistics" page on this BLOG/Web site.