CNS: Why the pope chose the name Francis

3 comments:

James K Savonarola said...

@Badger you might want to make people aware of Cardinal Mahoneys twitter statements going after BXVI here: http://rorate-caeli.blogspot.com/2013/03/someone-is-very-happy.html

GOR said...

Yes, very thoughtful of Pope Francis and given that St. Francis is Italy’s patron it will have endeared him all the more to the Italians.

Then, showing he has a sense of humor he went on to relate how some Cardinals were suggesting other names to him. One said he should take ‘Adrian’. “Why Adrian?” he asked. “Because Pope Adrian VI was a great reformer.”

But another suggested he should choose ‘Clement’. “Why Clement?” he asked. “Well you could be Clement XV and have revenge on Clement XIV who suppressed the Jesuits!”

That brought roars of laughter from the assembled journalists - not least Fr. Lombardi who is also a Jesuit. In any case he does have another link to Pope Clement. Pope Clement XIV was a Franciscan…

Badger Catholic said...

Thanks James