A Strange Day to Be Named Francis Pope

As Cardinal Jorge Bergoglio emerged Wednesday at a joyous Vatican and took the papal name Francis, there was no joy on Facebook for guys with the name Francis Pope—or Frank Pope, for that matter. Of course, at least one Franklin "Frank" Pope we found, a 32-year-old Lutheran from Chicago, is used to the ribbing by now. Frank, one of many Popes whose Timelines are beginning to grow holy seeds of bad jokes, runs what he describes as a skateboard contracting company. And his friends on Facebook were the first to connect him to the new head of the Catholic Church:

And then Frank retaliated:

Reached by phone shortly thereafter, Pope, who seemed rather unfazed by the new papal connection to his name, explained to The Atlantic Wire that he just "made a cheesy joke." Pope jokes, it seems, are old news to people with the name Pope. "When your last name's Pope your whole life you get it," he said. His father's name was the more