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DebbieB
Guest
What are the criteria for the pope in choosing his new name? Are there restrictions on the names he can choose?
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M
Michelle_Arnold
Guest
There are no criteria that are “set in stone,” so to speak, but a pope usually chooses to honor a predecessor or someone he otherwise admires (e.g., John XXIII sought to honor his father); or he chooses to give an indication of the course of his papacy (e.g., Pius XII sought to indicate that he would continue Pius XI’s work).
No. However, it is an unwritten custom that popes do not choose the name Peter. There is no rule against such a choice, but it is generally considered a matter of prudential judgment for popes not to invite comparisons between themselves and the first and original pope Christ himself chose.
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