Fun Pope facts, Impress your friends

Some fun facts...

-Ratzinger was the oldest cardinal to be named pope since Clement XII, who was also 78 when he became pope in 1730.

-He is the first German pope since Victor II (1055-1057).

-His choice of name seemed intriguing because the last Pope Benedict, who reigned from 1914 to 1922, subtly repudiated the strict Vatican orthodoxy practiced under his predecessor Pius X, said former Vatican diplomat John-Peter Pham.

Benedict XV also tried in vain to end World War I, opened the Vatican to international diplomacy and sent so much wartime aid to Turkey that Istanbul erected a statue to him, he said.

-It was only the third time in a century that a pope had been chosen on the second day of a conclave.

-It was one of the fastest elections in the past century: Pope Pius XII was elected in 1939 in three ballots on one day, while Pope John Paul I was elected in 1978 in four ballots in one day. John Paul II's successor was elected after either four or five ballots over two days.

-Ratzinger served John Paul II since 1981 as head of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith. In that position, he has disciplined church dissidents and upheld church policy against attempts by liberals for reforms.

-Ratzinger won a two-thirds majority or at least 77 votes to become pope.

-The 20th century's eight conclaves lasted from two to five days, with the average just over three days.