For many centuries, new popes tended to choose the name of the pope who had elevated them to cardinal. John was the most popular, chosen by 23 popes, followed by Benedict and Gregory, each with 16.
It was from the mid-20th century that new popes began to choose names signalling the aim of their papacy, Regoli said.
Pope Leo XIV spent decades among the poor in Peru.
On Thursday, Peruvian bishop Edinson Farfan called the new pope “a brother who has passed through these lands”.
“From the beginning when he finished his studies he came to Peru, to the mission in the north of Peru in Chulucanas, with a clear option for the poor. And from the moment he arrived in Peru he fell in love with Peru,” Farfan told a press conference.
“He has given his whole life to the mission in Peru,” he said, adding that Leo XIV was “sensitive to the issue of poverty”.
