Pope Says He Took Name from St Francis of Assisi, Explains Why

After all the chitter chatter about the Holy Father’s choice of Francis as his name, we now have an explanation from someone who knows.

Pope Francis explained his name choice today. He verified that he chose the name because of St Francis of Assisi. He said that the intention of choosing the name Francis “came to my heart” as the voting showed that he would probably be elected pope.

He explained that he chose the name because St Francis was “the man of the poor. The man of peace. The man who loved and cared for creation and in this moment we don’t have such a great relationship with the Creator. The man who gives us this spirit of peace, the man who wanted a poor church.”

The following article from The Guardian has details:

Pope Francis described on Saturday how he was inspired to take the name of Saint Francis of Assisi by the importance of helping the poor.

At his first press conference in the Vatican, Pope Francis broke from his prepared comments to describe the final hours of the conclave that elected him pope. He said: “Let me tell you a story.”

Francis said he was comforted by his friend, Brazilian Cardinal Claudio Hummes, as it appeared the voting was favouring him and it seemed “a bit dangerous” that he would reach the two-thirds necessary to be elected.

“He hugged me. He kissed me. He said don’t forget about the poor,” Francis recalled. “And that’s how in my heart came the name Francis of Assisi.”

He said some people have asked why he took the name, Francis, since it also could suggest references to other figures including the co-founder of the pope’s Jesuit order, Francis Xavier. But he said his intention came to his heart as an inspiration immediately after the election. St. Francis of Assisi, the pope said, was “the man of the poor. The man of peace. The man who loved and cared for creation and in this moment we don’t have such a great relationship with the creator. The man who gives us this spirit of peace, the poor man who wanted a poor church.”

He then joked that some other cardinals suggested other names: Hadrian VI, after a great church reformer, a reference to the need for the pope to clean up the Vatican’s messy bureaucracy. Someone else suggested Clement XV, to counter Clement XIV who suppressed the Jesuit order. (Read the rest here.)