Pope Betting | Next Pope Odds

1. The title Pope stems from the Greek word papas, which means ‘father’. Early in Christian history it was used as a formal title expressing affection & respect for any bishop and sometimes priests.

2. Legend has it that when a Pope died, a Cardinal would strike the Pontiff on the forehead with a small silver hammer looking for a response. However this changed when John Paul died and instead of doing this, just a one word question was repeated three times – “Karol?” John Paul’s failure to respond to his baptismal name was seen as proof that the pontiff was dead.

3. The reason Popes began choosing a Papal name was because when a man named Mercurius was elected Pope it was considered unacceptable for a vicar of Jesus Christ to bear the name of a Pagan God, and so he chose the name John.

4. The Pope is elected for life but it is possible for a Pope to step down if he wishes. While it is very uncommon the possibility of a Pope stepping down is very real.

5. Legend has it that a woman once managed to rise to the office of Pope although there is no evidence to suggest this is true.

6. Pope John Paul II was the first non Italian to lead the Church in 455 years.

7. Land Rover made the first armored Popemobile in 1982, after the assassination attempt of Pope John Paul II. They have since been made by Fiat, Renault, Peugeot, GM, Toyota and Mercedes Benz.

8. The Pope mobile’s license plate number is SCV 1. SCV in Italian stands for Stato della Citta del Vaticano (Vatican City State).

9. Pope Boniface II was the first Pope with German heritage (although not born in Germany).

10.Gregory V was the first German born Pope.

11. Sylvester II was the first French Pope.

12. Any Catholic male who is unmarried could in theory be elected Pope by these 117 men - but in practice the College of Cardinals will chose the 264th Pontiff from their own number.