Article: Speculation about new pope's choice of Benedict as name centers on saint.

Byline: Liam Ford

Apr. 20--Pope Benedict XVI has not yet said why he chose the name, but some theologians speculated Tuesday that he may have been more inspired by the famous monk St. Benedict than by previous pontiffs with that moniker.

While a cardinal, Joseph Ratzinger cited St. Benedict--a towering figuring in the Catholic tradition of monasticism who lived at the end of the Roman era--as an important example of the rejection of an earlier era's decadence.

Though many of the popes named Benedict were among the least distinguished successors of St. Peter, experts noted that the most recent pontiff by that name tried to broker a peace treaty ...

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