What's in a Pope's New Name?

There was no new pope today, but with the conclave underway there should be one soon—around Thursday, if the history of the vote is any indication. But what will his name be? All current names of possible frontrunners aside, The Economist looked back at the history of papal names bestowed upon the cardinals' selections. As you can see, "John" is the all-time favorite at the Vatican, though Benedict, the name of the the last pope, is also pretty popular. The rightmost side of the chart also gives the "implied probability"—via all those betting odds. Sergius is really not looking good, is what we're saying:



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Published on March 12, 2013 14:19
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