Current Practice
Immediately after a new pope is elected, and accepts the election, he is asked in Latin "By what name shall you be called?"† The new pope chooses the name by which he will be known from that point on. The senior Cardinal Deacon, or Cardinal Protodeacon, then appears on the balcony of Saint Peter's to proclaim the new pope by his birth name, and announce his papal name:
Annuntio vobis gaudium magnum:
Habemus Papam!
Eminentissimum ac Reverendissimum Dominum,
Dominum ,
Sanctæ Romanæ Ecclesiæ Cardinalem ,
qui sibi nomen imposuit .
I announce to you a great joy:
We have a Pope!
The Most Eminent and Most Reverend Lord,
Lord ,
Cardinal of the Holy Roman Church ,
who takes to himself the name .
†Unless impeded, the Dean of the College of Cardinals asks the newly-elected pope if he accepts his election and what name he will use. In 2005, Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, the Dean, was himself elected pope, so these questions were asked by the subdean, Cardinal Angelo Sodano.
Read more about this topic: Papal Name
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