Why Does The Pope Change His Name?

The world welcomed Pope Francis as the new leader of the Catholic Church last week. Wonder why he didn't just go by his given name and become Pope Jorge Mario?

Well, the Catholic church does not force the pope to take on a new name with the new role; it's a choice by the pope himself. Several hundred years ago, Pope Marcellus II actually kept his name. The pope chooses a new name as a way of symbolizing his mission as pope. Popes in the past have picked saints names or former popes' names whose priorities and desires are similar to theirs.

Before the 6th Century, popes were known by their given names. The first pope to change his name was Pope John II, originally named Mercurius, in 533 AD. He decided to have his name be associated with his predecessor Pope John I, as opposed to the pagan god Mercury. As leader of the Catholic Church, who could blame him? :)

It's thought that Pope Francis picked his name to be linked to Saint Francis of Assisi, a kind and beloved saint, who was known for renouncing the riches of this world to live in poverty. In Argentina, Pope Francis is said to have lived a humble and simple lifestyle full of compassion for the poor, and that is how he will likely live out his papacy. He wants to be a pope who is close to the people.

Some suggest that he also wanted to evoke the memory of Saint Francis Xavier, the Jesuit missionary, since Pope Francis is the first Jesuit pope.

The now-retired Pope Benedict XVI chose that name to link himself with Pope Benedict XV, who led the church with a steady hand through World War I. As it turned out, Pope Benedict XVI was also like his namesake in that they both reigned for about 8 years.

Once Father Jorge & Cardinal Bergoglio, now Pope Francis!

[sources: latimes, wikipedia, npr] 

Why Is A Marathon 26 Miles?

From the "Word Power" section of the April issue of Reader's Digest:

A marathon is 26 miles and 385 yards. The word and that oddly specific distance date back to the 490 BC battle of Marathon, Greece, in which the Greeks defeated the Persians. A messenger carried news of the victory to Athens across some 26 miles. Centuries later, in the 1896 Olympics, the footrace debuted and adopted the name marathon in honor of the runner.

Is anyone else wondering how long it took that messenger to carry the message? :)

Why Are Diamonds Valuable?

I just read some disturbing information about the diamond industry and thought I'd share.  I have not seen the movie Blood Diamond, nor know its plot, so forgive me if this is all old news...

Diamond jewelry has come to symbolize love. We also think of diamonds as valuable investments, valuable because they are so rare. But we think both of those things -- because we've been conned. 

Diamonds only mean love, and cost more than gold, because one brilliant company convinced people that diamonds were special. 

The marketing strategy was born 100 years ago in the mines of South Africa, when huge deposits of diamonds were found... Before that the discovery of a diamond was so rare that diamonds had become status symbols among royalty. But with the South African discovery, diamonds were suddenly ordinary. Prices plunged. 

Then a smart Englishman, Cecil Rhodes, bought lots of the suddenly cheap diamond minds, and established a monopoly [through the company De Beers] on the diamond supply... [His dealings with diamond-producing countries] brought De Beers an astonishing... 80% of the market... 

To keep prices high, De Beers hoards diamonds. That makes diamonds seem more rare than they actually are. 

But that's only half of their strategy... De Beers played the market brilliantly. It launched an advertising and public relations campaign to manipulate the world into believing that diamonds were the proper way to express love.

At the beginning of the 20th Century, there was not a clear American marriage "tradition" since the country was made of so many different cultures. De Beers jumped on that opportunity and offered their solution: if you want to marry a woman, you put a diamond ring on her finger.  Movie studios jumped on the diamond bandwagon, and sales exploded.

De Beers seems to be able to set the diamond standards based on what's in their warehouses.  When they had an overflow of large diamonds, they advertised "The bigger the diamond, the more you love her." When they acquired many small diamonds from Russia, De Beers encouraged men to buy their wives "Eternity Rings" for their anniversaries, which happened to contain lots of smaller stones.

So now we're left with a conundrum -- De Beers may have started the diamond trend based purely on economic strategy that leaves diamonds chronically overpriced, but it now IS culturally "American" for diamonds (instead of other precious stones) to symbolize eternal love. How can we resolve this?

You are so pretty and so sparkly... but are you worth it?

[source: Myths, Lies, & Downright Stupidity by John Stossel]

French Military Victories

This isn't so much "information" I learned; it's more something kind of funny I learned.

If you google search the phrase "French Military Victories" and click "I Feel Lucky", this is what you'll get:

That's a bit of a low-blow, but I guess history speaks for itself... :)

Good Thing Times Have Changed...!

Via Reader's Digest:

"In 19th-century Japan and China, 'talks too much' was one of seven reasons for which a man could divorce his wife"

From The Art of Marriage: A Guide to Living Life as Two by Catherine Blyth

Eeeek. What were the other 6 reasons, I wonder?

Happy Valentine's Day!

Some people say that Valentine's Day was created by the greeting-card companies just to make a profit. Is it true? Where did Valentine's Day come from?

It actually has Catholic religious origins, dating back to 496 AD, when Pope Gelasius I established the day to commemorate the martyr Valentine (although the Feast of Saint Valentine was removed from the General Roman Calendar by Pope Paul VI in 1969). Based on the earliest historic records, Valentine was martyred for trying to convert Roman Emperor Claudius II to Christianity.

Okay. Not very romantic yet.

Folklore has claimed that instead Valentine spent his life in jail for protesting Claudius's law prohibiting military men to marry. Further, legend states that Valentine wrote the first "Valentine's Day card" to the jailer's daughter, whom he loved. However, there is no historical proof of these stories.

So, minus the folklore, how could the jump from martyr to romance happen?

Some people say that it has to do with associating St. Valentine with "sacrificial" love (for God), which just became love in general, then "romantic" love.

Others say that the original February holiday of St. Valentine got mixed together with the Ancient Roman Lupercalia Festival of fertility.

Others associate the origins with George Chaucer's 1382's Parlement of Foules, which contains the line, "For this was Saint Valentine's Day, when every bird cometh there to choose his mate".

... and on and on...

Regardless, Valentine's Day poetry and letters appear to have long-standing tradition in Europe and the United States. As early as 1797, British publishers were banking on helping people express their Valentine's Day love on paper.

To get back to the original question, though, I doubt that there were greeting-card companies in the 14th century (or earlier) when this all began, but someone decided to make this holiday what it is now! And the reasons seem to have nothing to do with St. Valentine himself. So I don't believe that a company began this holiday, although the greeting-card companies are certainly taking advantage of it (rightly so! good economics!).

Either way, hope you all have a love-filled day!

[source]

Types Of Government Explained...

... simply and with a lot of cheesy graphics. This defines American government looking through the eyes of the founding fathers.

I imagine this - as most political things are - is probably biased, but it still contains some good information!

Pirates & Theater

... apparently don't mix well!

I recently visited the "Real Pirates" exhibit at the Houston Museum of Natural History. It follows the early-1700s shipwrecked Whydah and its crew. It's very impressive - I highly recommend checking it out if you're in the area!

One of the Whydah stories I read was particularly ridiculous, so I decided to share it with you. It was listed as a side note on a "Life on Board a Pirate Ship" banner.

One-Act Plays -- Pirate Style

Pirates even performed plays on ships. The Whydah crew staged a play about a mock pirate trial called The Royal Pirate. A group of crewmembers, the worse for drink, missed the first act. They stumbled in -- clueless that a play was being performed -- just as one of the actors was being sentenced to death for piracy.

Outraged, they leapt to his defense, throwing hand grenades and drawing their cutlasses, breaking the actor's leg, taking the arm off the playwright, and killing a member of the audience.

!!! It really made me appreciate all of the performances that I've been to that haven't involved any unplanned violence!

But I guess what else should we expect from drunken pirates?

Christmas Tree Controversy!

While reading about the origins of Christmas tree decorating, I came across this verse from the Bible, which appears to mention decorated trees... as an idol!

¹ Hear what the LORD says to you, O house of Israel.
² This is what the LORD says:
"Do not learn the ways of the nations
or be terrified by signs in the sky,
though the nations are terrified by them.
³ For the customs of the peoples are worthless;
they cut a tree out of the forest,
and a craftsman shapes it with his chisel.
⁴ They adorn it with silver and gold;
they fasten it with hammer and nails
so it will not totter.
⁵ Like a scarecrow in a melon patch,
their idols cannot speak;
they must be carried
because they cannot walk.
Do not fear them;
they can do no harm
nor can they do any good."

-Jeremiah 10:1-5 (NIV)

Hmmm... cutting down a tree and shaping it and making sure it doesn't fall over and adorning it with gold and silver... that sounds like what lots of Christians do around this time of year! (Or it could have been referring to something carved out of the tree...)

On the other hand, according to Christian tradition, St. Boniface in 8th-century Germany started the Christmas tree tradition with the opposite purpose, as a living reminder of Christ in or around their homes.

The Oak of Thor at Geismar was chopped down by Boniface in a stage-managed confrontation with the old gods and local heathen tribes. A fir tree growing in the roots of the Oak was claimed by Boniface as a new symbol. "This humble tree's wood is used to build your homes: let Christ be at the centre of your households. Its leaves remain evergreen in the darkest days: let Christ be your constant light. Its boughs reach out to embrace and its top points to heaven: let Christ be your Comfort and Guide".
- from crediton.com

I guess, like with most religious traditions, it's not really about the object, it's about the intention.
Although I realize that most Christmas trees in America are not set up with any religious intent, I just found this to be an interesting dichotomy!

The Berlin Wall

November 9th marked the 20th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall. I am old enough to remember seeing the historic moments on television, but also was too young to really understand the significance at the time. I just knew that in 3rd grade geography, I was taught that there was East Germany, West Germany, and the USSR... but in 4th grade they were called Germany and Russia...

Here is a history of the Berlin Wall in 10 points for those of you, like me, who only have a vague idea of what happened (of course, don't expect these 10 points to do this topic justice!):

1. After World War II, four major powers (the US, France, England, and the Soviet Union) controlled Berlin in four separate occupation zones. As time went on, the West side ended up using a capitalist system, while the East side was run by the Communist party.

2. In 1952, the East German government put restrictions on the border to West Germany because more and more of the Eastern population was emigrating to take advantage of the Western freedom. However, the restrictions weren't strict enough, and East Germany was worried they would lose all of their young educated population, so the wall was constructed in 1961.

3. Everything in Berlin (train tracks, cemeteries, roads, neighborhoods, etc) was separated by a 12' high concrete structure, barbed wire, anti-vehicle trenches, a 100-meter-wide gravel span (nicknamed "The Death Strip"), a second fence, guard dogs, and guards watching from 116 watchtowers and 20 bunkers.

4. Not only did emigration become impossible for the East Berliners, but also families were split, people who worked on the other side of the wall lost their jobs, and East Berliners could no longer freely travel.

5. There were 8 border crossings in the wall, which allowed visitors with appropriate visas and permits to travel to and from East Berlin (although anyone could be denied at the border for any reason) after December 1963. However, it was significantly easier for a West Berliner to enter East Berlin than vice versa -- mostly East Germans were only allowed to cross the border for family emergencies or business matters.

6. Guards were told in 1973 that people trying to cross the border illegally were to be considered criminals and should be treated as such. Despite this, about 5000 people successfully escaped, although about 100-200 people died trying to cross the wall.

7. On June 12th, 1987, on the 750th anniversary of Berlin, President Ronald Reagan said this in a speech to the General Secretary of the Communist Party, Mikhail Gorbachev:

"We welcome change and openness; for we believe that freedom and security go together, that the advance of human liberty can only strengthen the cause of world peace. There is one sign the Soviets can make that would be unmistakable, that would advance dramatically the cause of freedom and peace. General Secretary Gorbachev, if you seek peace, if you seek prosperity for the Soviet Union and eastern Europe, if you seek liberalization, come here to this gate. Mr. Gorbachev, open this gate. Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall!"

8. Starting in early 1989, a series of events led to the fall of the communist system: the first free labor union was started in communist Poland, Hungary removed its physical border with Austria (allowing 13,000 East Germans to escape to Austria), East Germans took part in mass demonstrations against the system, longtime East Germany's head of state Erich Honecker resigned, and more East Germans escaped through Czechoslovakia.

9. To calm things down, new leader Egon Krenz decided to allow refugees and travelers to cross the border directly at the border crossings with permission. The politburo spokesman Günter Schabowski, though, was given this information without any instructions about how the plan would be carried out. At the press conference on November 9, 1989, Schabowski announced the new travel law, saying it was "effective immediately, without delay".

10. The East Germans saw this as a sign that the restrictions of the wall were finally being taken away. East Germans fled to the wall, and the guards, not knowing what they were supposed to do, allowed the masses to cross the border! West and East Germans, reunited at last after 28 years, celebrated in the streets. Visa-free travel was allowed after December 23rd, and German reunification officially concluded on October 3rd, 1990.

What an awesome way to end the 1980s!

(this info was compiled from the wikipedia entry. I am no historian, so please let me know if any of my facts are inaccurate!)