Today marks the anniversary, from the year 533, of the elevation to the papacy of the man who would come down through history as Pope John II. One of the more interesting aspects
of his papacy was his name. He had been born Mercurius. Upon his election to the papacy, he did not think he could continue under his given name, it being based upon that of the Roman god Mercury. So he adopted John II as his name. In so doing he became the first pope to adopt a regnal name different
from his given name.
No comments:
Post a Comment