Who was the first to call Pope John Paul "the Great"

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MarcoPolo

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Who was the first to suggest Pope John Paul II be named “the Great”??
 
I do believe it was Fr. Richard Neuhaus. He’s the editor of First Things, is often seen co-hosting special events on EWTN, author of I think around twenty books, founder of Evangelicals and Catholics Together, and one of my favorite social/political commentators (although naturally I don’t agree with him all the time–but who do I agree with all the time?). He is also, IMHO, possessor of the finest casual essay style of our era–a new Joseph Addison, if you will. I actually was just reading one of his articles on the UN before I logged on a moment ago.

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MarcoPolo said:
Is there a particular quotation you have in mind that you would mention Fr. Neuhaus as the one?
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Hmmm…well, not exactly that. But in his recent book Catholic Matters, which is half commentary half memoir, he mentions that he was the one who first came up with the title, and he says it seemed to stick.

I suppose he could be mistaken that he was the first. After all, I’d wager that the title occurred more than just to one person. But I think it’s likely that he was the first one to use it in print, and it stuck from there on.

He is also, btw, the coiner of the phrase “the naked public square,” which is now quite common. I heard a presidential candidate use it a while back.

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