Dear Answer Person,
With the recent papal transition,I was wondering how they chose names such as John Paul and Benedict to substitute their originial names, and why do they bother to change the names in the first place?
ANSWER PERSON RESPONDS: In the New Catholic Encyclopedia in Perkins Reference (282.03 N535 2003), vol. 11, pp. 506-7, the article “Popes, Names of” discusses this. A new name isn’t a requirement, but is a long-standing Church tradition. In early Church history there was a desire to change a person’s “pagan” name to one sounding more genuinely Roman, and there’s always been a desire to show reverence for earlier popes whose views were respected or whose work was well known by the incoming pope. It’s been hundreds of years or more since a pope took a name not used by a previous pope (or combined them, in the case of John Paul I). Dropping his birth name also symbolizes a total dedication to the office being assumed.
Incidentally, in very early Church history instead of II, a second pope went by Junior (or the Latin equivalent).
This, of course, would be an excellent reference question for the folks over in the Divinity School Library. They can probably dig up lots of information on the subject.
NPR radio had a segment on “How Papal Names are Chosen,” http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=4586228 but AP hasn’t listened to it.