Here are some of the other Benedicts; these three make you wonder why the present bearer of the name made that choice:

Pope Benedict V served for only one month, before being deposed and sent to Hamburg to become a deacon. Allegedly, in 964, he raped a young girl, absconded to Constantinople with the Papal treasury, and returned to Rome when the money ran out. Benedict was eventually killed by an irate husband, his mutilated corpse dragged thru the streets before being tossed into a cesspool.
Pope Benedict VI served for two years and was strangled by a priest named Stephen who hoped (wrongly) to succeed him
Pope Benedict IX served 13 years. This one is the doozy! He was eleven or 12 (by one source 18 or 19 by another) when made Pope (his father Count Alberich III obtained it for him). He led a wanton life, was forced out of Rome in 1036, returned, forced out again and replaced by Silvester III, returned again and expelled Silvester III. Two months later he sold his office for 650 kg of Gold. The buyer became Gregory Vi, but soon Benedict V returned and deposed him. He remained Pope until July 1046 when he and Silvester were deprived of their offices and Gregory encouraged to resign. Pope Clement II was crowned and when he died a year later, Benedict seized the Papacy again, but was finally driven out in 1048, replaced by Damasus II. In 1049, Benedict V refused to appear on charges of buying or selling of a church office or ecclesiastical preferment and was excommunicated. He sank into obscurity and died sometime between 1055 and 1065.
Strangely, only one or two of the Benedicts were strong moral Popes, the rest were either ineffectual or wastrels! Let’s hope number 16 is the former not the latter - CD

Perhaps he chose the name to honor the "one or two ...strong moral popes". Or maybe the name has a special meaning for him.

Why automatically assume that there is a sinister motive?

If I chose to name my child Charles, is it to honor the man known as Manson? Or perhaps the Prince of Wales? Or maybe, because I had a close friend by that name who passed away?

perhaps it is more akin to why whe don't see that many adolfs? (the negative imagery overpowers the positive imagery. charles is a pretty benign name)

Sorry, I didn't mean to associate a "sinister" motive.....I thought that it was interesting that these three shared the name and wondered why he chose that particular moniker, where there were so many available where all those sharing that name were moral and/or strong. Just wondering - CD

CD, are you catholic? I ask because of the act of confirmation, wherein you are supposed to take a name, preferably, something of religious nature (john, paul, matthew, mary, etc).

It is supposed to have meaning to the bearer, and to reaffirm their faith in the religion so I presume that its the same with the pontiff, no?

Um.....Just a guess.....but I think CD is a Deist....(checks his name )

Deist, a believer in a deity, right?

I was using confirmation as an example of choosing a name. If CD had any knowledge of catholic services, it would simplify my example. That is the only reason I asked.

I wonder if anyone can feild this question for me.

Why are they given names? I always thought Pope John Paul (RIP) was called that because that was his name. I only recently realised.

If your name was Joe Ratslinger would you want to change it?

Was that his name?

Why do they change them when they become Pope?

That trend started with one Pope who's name was Mercury.(sp) A Christian Pope can't have a name of a roman god now.. could he?

Around the 8th century there was a Pope named Mercury and he changed his name because Mercury was a pagan god name. After that it just became a custom of newly elected popes.

but why??? i believe shakespear said it best in Romeo and Juliet.. "Whats in a name? a rose called by any other name would smell just as sweet."

Because back then.. anything Pagan was seen as bad (Like alot of people still see it as today) And so, having a named linked to paganism was unheard of, especialy for the leader of the christian Church.

Benedict "newly married man" (especially one who had seemed a confirmed bachelor), from the character Benedicke in "Much Ado About Nothing" (1599).

Benedict is from L.L. Benedictus, lit. "blessed," from L. benedicte "bless (you)."

The third of the four lesser orders of the Roman Catholic Church, one of whose functions was to exorcize spirits.

16 AIN “TYPHON” (The Tower of Babel).

TYPHON or NIMROD: A fire breathing giant with 100 serpentine heads, Typhon was taller than mountains with serpentine legs and thighs and had a feathered and winged body. He fathered on Echinda such beasts as Cerberus, Orthus, the Chimera, the Hydra, the sphinx, the vulture that ate Prometheus' liver, and the Nemean Lion


So, Typhons or Nimrods began to be mighty on the earth.

They were mighty hunters before the LORD: wherefore it is said, Even as Nimrods the mighty hunter minds before the LORD.

And the beginning of their kingdom was Babel.

And they said one to another, Go to, let us make brick, and burn them thoroughly. And they had brick for stone, and slime had they for morter.

And they said, Go to, let us build us “A CITY” and a tower, whose top may reach unto heaven; and let us make us a name, lest we be scattered abroad upon the face of the whole earth.

And the LORD came down to see the city and the tower, which the children of men built.


In the center of the figure, the Tower of Babel, with three windows, fulminated by a thunderbolt. Nimrod is expelled from the tower along with his fraudulent prophet. Nimrod holds a bow which, in its fall, forms the letter “ain”.

For as the lightning cometh out of the east, and shines even unto the west; so shall also the coming of the Son of man be.

And then shall appear the sign of (the lightning) the Son of man in heaven: and then shall all the tribes of the earth mourn, and they shall see the Son of man (the lightning) coming in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory.

Oh okay. Thanks a lot guys

Vatican
Why don't you ask him yourselves.

**waves at Walken**

In English, the address is benedictxvi@vatican.va. In Italian: benedettoxvi@vatican.va

Well, I decided to use my googlekinesis on this problem why a Pope chooses a name before he take the ring and win the heavy weight championship of the world.

Be prepared to be quite amazed on my kintetic powers y'all.


So who does this new, what's his name Father Rubkids, Pope admire about the name of Bennie? And what?

As CD points out.

I think he chose "Benedict" b/c the last pope that was Benedict tryed to warn Germany that they were going south.

Modern day Germany has somewhat strayed from the Church.

So, this is why he took this name I think.

IT IS JUST A NAME!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

After a little more research, I think you might be right Amalgamut. That is one of the few Benedicts that is admirable and he did try to stop WWI. - CD

NO kidding. Last time Germany establish the Church, it went so much better for them too.

Everybody knows that theocracy is so much more democratic anyway. ;p

ur kinda funny, quicksand

yeah, to bad you aren't my g/f, she gets to see how funny i actually am in the a.m too.

But, Amalgamut, is right tho. I've been in a sarcastic lately these past two days.

its ok... it is still in a funny kinda way sometimes...

yeah, all your statments are being build on Quicksand!

Or like a man that without a foundation, who built an house upon the Quicksand; against which the stream did beat vehemently, and immediately it fell; and the ruin of that house was great.

Wow, how did you know that is the reason why I like the aka of Quicksand.

Nice tho Loge. You have a future in poetry. Well, I wouldn't trust that statement, seeing as I have no foundation to say anything, you might want to keep your day job.

Quicksand


You know, you could just try to counter-argue against me once, instead of just writing poetry or whatever you call that schlock.

"You only see the sparks of my spirit: but you do not see the anvil which it is, and the cruelty of its hammer!"

Ah, but I can know what a hammer is. It is a tool created by people for an end. Sparks may happen as you're wroughting a piece of iron, but to say that a hammer is cruel, is unjust.

Ah, touche

As for why he picked the name what occured to me is maybe he took it as a tribute to Saint Benedict (admittedly the most I know about St Benedict is he was an exorcist).

As tp why they change there names realize Shakespear aside there is a very long standing tradition of putting great importance on a persons name. IN the Bible this is reinforced many times(Jacob demands the name of the angel he wrestles with, Revelation talks of Jesus as having a name above any other, Jesus's own name was prophecized by angels to Mary before his birth and he was in fact given two names by those angels Immanuel and Jesus). The point is that most ancient cultures believed to name some thing gave you power over it and to know a true name made that power even greater.