Pope Leo XIV, First American Pontiff, Chooses Papal Name with a Long History. What That Could Mean

The 267th pope has chosen his caller name: Pope Leo XIV.

Born pinch his baptismal sanction of Robert Francis Prevost, his papal sanction is much of a accepted prime — and 1 pinch a storied history. The first of nan name, Pope Leo I, was elected successful 440 and sought to unafraid nan unity of nan Church during immense conflict.

The astir caller pope pinch that moniker, Pope Leo XIII, was caput of nan Church from 1878 until 1903, and was a unit of relationship arsenic nan Church navigated relationships pinch civilian governments — and was little opposed to technological progress, according to Britannica.com. Additionally, he was seen arsenic being a "great champion of nan poor," Dr. Charles Gillespie — a Catholic studies professor astatine Sacred Heart University, tells PEOPLE.

Leo XIII was besides known for penning an encyclical called "Rerum novarum," which translates "The New Things" — and Gillespie says that inaugurated what is called "Catholic societal teaching."

"Taking nan sanction of Leo XIV is simply a clear signal, astatine slightest to me, that this feline wants to put civilized questions and civilized activity astatine nan halfway of what nan Pope is doing arsenic nan leader of Catholics, but besides arsenic a thought leader for nan world, besides a champion for nan mediocre and nan underrepresented," nan master explains.

"I deliberation that's a taxable from Pope Francis we're going to spot continued by Robert Prevost," Gillespie adds. "He besides had nan occupation of appointing and helping Pope Francis prime nan bishops of nan world. So he was nan personification that Pope Francis chose to put successful complaint of putting nan benignant of leaders he wanted to spot successful his religion astir nan globe."

Dr. William T. Cavanaugh, a professor astatine DePaul University, besides recovered it "interesting" that nan sanction Leo was selected, and believes it whitethorn speak volumes astir nan value nan caller pope whitethorn put connected Catholic societal teaching.

Cavanaugh besides says Leo XIII "was besides a large promoter of nan activity of Thomas Aquinas," a Scholastic philosopher from nan 11th century, "which indicates a definite benignant of openness to different intelligence currents."

"Aquinas was celebrated for incorporating Aristotelian thought into Christian thought," he explains. "And truthful those are immoderate imaginable directions that nan sanction indicates."

Adopting a caller sanction arsenic pope is simply a "longstanding tradition" that dates backmost to St. Peter, nan very first pope, whose baptismal sanction was Simon, per nan Vatican. Although immoderate of nan earliest popes chose not to alteration their names, successful caller history, astir person taken portion successful nan time-honored tradition.

According to nan Vatican, nan astir celebrated pope names successful history person been John, Gregory, Benedict and Pius, arsenic good arsenic recurrent names Clement, Innocent, Paul and Leo, A pope has ne'er chosen nan sanction Peter — the first pope and a genuinely untouchable Catholic fig — nor has immoderate pope claimed James aliases Andrew (two disciples), nor Joseph (earthly begetter of Jesus) aliases Luke (author 1 of 4 gospels).

As for really they determine connected names, nan Vatican explained that pontiffs "often chose nan names of their contiguous aliases distant predecessors retired of respect, admiration, aliases nickname to people continuity, but besides different names to people innovation."

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Andrea Gagliarducci, a Vatican journalist, tells PEOPLE that Pope Leo XIV is, to her knowledge, "a very pragmatic person."

"It shows nan sanction Leo, which is absorbing because it marks a discontinuity not only pinch Pope Francis but pinch each nan past hundreds of years Pope, which intends that location is simply a caller start," she explains.

Such was nan lawsuit pinch Pope Francis — there had been nary pope by that sanction earlier him. Francis — calved Jorge Bergoglio — chose his sanction to grant St. Francis of Assisi, who for illustration nan precocious pontiff, led a life marked by helping disenfranchised people.

Francis's papal sanction did initially spark controversy, though, arsenic immoderate saw nan move arsenic a disregard for precedent, while others saw nan move arsenic a reflection of a displacement successful nan Catholic church.

-- further reporting by Alina Trabattoni