madeleine wrote: I think St. Francis of Assisi is the first name that comes to mind. However! Let's not forget the Jesuit St. Francis X-avier (the auto censor doesn't like the name [name deleted] without a hyphen?) or St. Francis de Sales. It could be he was thinking of one of them, or a combination of more than one.
Maybe he just likes the name. I'm assuming (usually gets me in trouble) that he is free to choose any name he wants. It could have been Pope Polycarp.
Could have. St. Polycarp is a good St. to emulate, though, I certainly hope Pope Francis isn't called to martyrdom as Polycarp was.
Being a Christian is not the result of an ethical choice or a lofty idea, but the encounter with an event, a person, which gives life a new horizon and a decisive direction -Pope Benedict XVI
Hey, what about that saint who lived buried up to the waist one summer? Can you imagine any better name symbolism than that for a conservative Pope?
I'm hoping that Pope Francis had St. Francis of Assisi in mind when he chose his name. Speaking of which, do any of you remember the old movie, Brother Sun, Sister Moon? I'm thinking the LDS Church may have preferred the title of Brothers Sun, Moon and Stars.
moksha wrote:Speaking of which, do any of you remember the old movie, Brother Sun, Sister Moon? [/u].
Yes, a friend in Italy sent me his English copy that came in a double disk set (one Italian disk, one English disk). The whole Church is in love with St. Francesco, for good reason, but none as much as the Italians! He is a cultural institution in Italy, and their patron.
Being a Christian is not the result of an ethical choice or a lofty idea, but the encounter with an event, a person, which gives life a new horizon and a decisive direction -Pope Benedict XVI
