At 78, Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger was one of the oldest new popes in history when elected.
But would it be better, if popes refrained from interceding on such highly-charged secular matters?
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Previous popes would carry out the foot-washing ritual on Holy Thursday in Rome's grand St.
White, 21, of Popes Head Court, pleaded guilty to causing unnecessary suffering to the animal.
Also, despite the Vatican II council of the 1960s, popes kept expanding their authority.
"From my perspective as a medievalist, it's not surprising that popes can resign, " he says.
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Pope Francis "does all the things that other popes wouldn't touch, " Yusef said.
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Inside, the Basilica is packed with statues of popes, saints and cherubs peering out from every surface.
Scola has ranked near the top of every list of possible popes since Benedict announced his resignation.
The popes eventually returned to Rome, but the vineyards flourished, slaking local thirst without attracting wide attention.
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This was the start of the long list of popes named Leo, Gregory and Benedict, said Melloni.
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It is a history of the Popes, and oh, myyyyyyyyyyyyy, but it is a rollicking good tale.
Some say that it would be a welcome change for popes to be called by their baptismal name.
In many ways, Cardinal Bergoglio is an ideal figure to transition from a centuries-old line of European popes.
The installation ceremony held there is steeped in centuries of ritual that modern popes have updated to the times.
For traditionalists who fondly recall the days when popes were carried on a sedan chair, that may have stung.
Kings, popes, dictators and captains of industry made better patrons than democratic societies.
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Are the parallels even stronger than Celestine and Benedict being the two popes to resign on account of age?
And, of course, when there are two popes, they mutually excommunicate each other.
Also, life-expectancy figures are average numbers, and justices and popes aren't average people.
Today's billionaires are no different from the grand dukes and popes of the Renaissance or the merchants of 17th century Amsterdam.
Since then, it has been customary for all popes to change their names, although it is not required in any way.
Officers had gone to a house in Popes Lane in Kings Norton at 23:15 GMT on Monday to arrest the man.
Past popes have celebrated Mass every morning in their private chapel before settling down at their desk to deal with correspondence.
Underneath, seven white shoe boxes were piled, presumably containing the various sizes of the red leather shoes that popes traditionally wear.
Benedict XVI was aged 78 when he was elected in 2005, making him one of the oldest new Popes in history.
For the early popes, the choice of a name wasn't an issue.
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It is true that the new pope's age (76) did raise eyebrows, given the leadership vacuum that two ailing popes have created.
Damascus, the world's oldest inhabited city, has given the Roman church six popes as well as saints and priests over the centuries.
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