Elections Today
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Recent Projections
| State | Candidate | Delegates |
|---|---|---|
 Donald Trump | ||
Pennsylvania |  Joe Biden |
A Look at Pope's Namesake
April 19, 2005 — -- Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger of Germany, a longtime confidante of John Paul II and guardian of doctrinal orthodoxy, was elected Tuesday as the new pontiff of the Roman Catholic church.
When a man is elected pope, the cardinal dean asks him two questions. First, the candidate is asked if he accepts the office. If that's a "yes," he's then asked what name he wants to be known by as pope. Cardinal Ratzinger chose the name of Benedict XVI. A new pope often picks the name of his favorite saint or pope to honor him by following in his steps during his papacy.
Pope Benedict XV was born on Nov. 21, 1854, near Genoa, Italy. His birth name was James della Chiesa. His parents were of the nobility and his mother was related to Pope Innocent II (1404-06).
As a child, della Chiesa was very thin and of delicate health. Some dubbed him "the midget" even after he became pope. His father insisted that even priests needed a profession so della Chiesa delayed his clerical studies and got a doctorate in civil law. He became a priest in 1878 and, four years later, he joined the papal diplomatic service. In 1907, della Chiesa was made archbishop of Bologna.
Pius X made him a cardinal in May 1914 and within three months he was elected pontiff. Della Chiesa led each ballot in the conclave and was elected on Sept. 3, 1914.
From the beginning, Benedict XV struggled for peace in the world. The first four years and two months of his reign were the years of the First World War. He had been elected because he favored neither side.
He made repeated appeals to end the war. In August 1917, he circulated peace proposals to all the belligerents. They were rejected, both sides being now determined to achieve an "absolute victory."
While publicly the countries at war made evasive replies, in private their response was almost wholly negative. Both sides treated his intervention as presumptuous. Pressed to condemn atrocities, he did so with a conscious effort to be non-partisan. The failure of the peace effort was the greatest disappointment of his pontificate.
