March 13, 2013 — a day for the history books. Anytime a pope is elected it’s historic, but this is history of histories. We have a Latin American pope. And where was I when I found out the announcement? Sucking at golf, because my brother twisted my arm. I just knew it wouldn't be that day, so I left the TV — and they elect a Latin American pope.
I digress. Regnal names are a longstanding tradition with the papacy. But it hasn’t always been this way. If you consider the Apostle Peter as the first pope, which the Catholic Church does, then it was around 500 years after his death before a pope took a name different than the one he was given at birth. Pope John II, elected Jan. 2, 533, was born Mecurio. That is an Italianized version of Mars, the Roman god of war. It wasn’t until the later part of the 10th century, with Pope John XIV, that the tradition of taking a regnal name began to catch on.
Joey Giles
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The name a pope chooses is very important. It shows a glimpse into the legacy he hopes to leave. Let’s take a look at the last three popes. John Paul I, born Albino Luciani, chose the name of his two predecessors, John and Paul. John XXIII opened the Second Vatican Council. He was a reformer. Paul VI concluded the Second Vatican Council and started implementing the changes. He too was a reformer. When Luciani took the name John Paul I, he was both honoring his predecessors and indicating he would continue with their reforms. Alas, we shall never know. John Paul I’s papacy lasted all of 33 days.
Perhaps the most famous pope in the last 500 years was John Paul II. Not since Paul has the church had such a missionary. John Paul continued the legacy of his predecessors with reform. The two greatest reforms under his papacy would be the updating of the catechism of the Catholic Church and the Pontificate Constitution. He also canonized more saints than all of his predecessors — that’s 263 popes he beat.
The last pope before today was Benedict XVI. Benedict XV, who was pope during the First World War, was influential in establishing peace. In a time that has been plagued by global terrorism and the wars that have been spawned since 9/11/01, is it any wonder that Cardinal Ratzinger took the name Benedict, whom he personally called “a prophet of peace”?
And now we have history in the making — three times. We have the first Latin American Pope, coming from Argentina (the first non-European in nearly 1,500 years; Gregory III was from Syria). We have the first Jesuit (Society of Jesus) pope. And most importantly, from this article’s perspective, we have the first Francis.
So what does Francis mean? Well, though there may have never been a Pope Francis until today, perhaps one of the most famous Christian (Catholic) saints is Francis of Assisi. He is the founder of multiple religious orders, one bearing his name, and is the patron saint of animals, the environment, Italy, merchants, stowaways, Cub Scouts and the city of San Francisco.
What's most important for us today is that St. Francis, like Mother Theresa, left vast amounts of wealth and took on the clothes of poverty. Francis begged for many years. He also might be considered a reformer, for the papacy and many Catholic institutions of the time were in the midst of corruption.
St. Francis’s faith is also considered highly desirable. He was supposedly the recipient of the stigmata, or the signs of Christ’s wounds on the cross.
Why is this important now? Well, if Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio, henceforth known as Pope Francis, is like the man whose name he took, we can expect him to be a reformer of corruption (i.e. corrupted bureaucracy in the Vatican as well as the sex abuse scandals), we can expect him to devote the church to social causes (the poor, the hungry, the sick, etc.) and we can expect a call to holiness.
I’m not a Catholic, but, hey, these can’t be bad things. I hope he’s successful, and I hope his influence will bring about great change in the Catholic, and the worldwide Christian, church — including among Baptists such as myself.
I pray for you Pope Francis! And I pray for Christians worldwide.
Joey Giles (jngiles@liberty.edu) is a minister living in Gretna, Va.