Georgetown Law
Georgetown Law Library

Papal Election Research Guide

This guide lists and describes sources for researching the law of papal elections.

Papal Name Selection

  • The process by which a new pope announces his selected name is outlined in theUNIVERSI DOMINICI GREGIS, No. 87.

  • Generally speaking, the name a pope chooses has some significance regarding the mission or mindset of that particular pope. For example, Pope Benedict XVI explains here why he chose "Benedict."