Naming as Memory: Papal Name Selection and the Construction of Ecclesiastical Continuity Across Historical Time

AbstractThis article investigates papal name selection as a historiographical and symbolic practice deeply embedded in the Roman Catholic Church’s construction of institutional memory. Drawing on theories of cultural memory (Assmann), lieux de mémoire (Nora), performative tradition (Connerton), and mediated continuity (Erll), the study explores how papal names function as deliberate historical references that signal theological priorities, invoke apostolic lineage, and assert institutional continuity. The analysis spans from the apostolic period through the Reformation to the contemporary papacy, showing how naming serves both as a conservative force and as a vehicle of adaptation to changing political and cultural contexts. By combining conceptual analysis with historical case studies and a quantitative ARMA time-series model, the article examines how recurring names such as Leo, Gregory, or John act as mnemonic anchors across centuries of doctrinal conflict, schism, and reform. The act of papal renaming is revealed as a site of historical meaning-making - an ecclesiastical historiography enacted through symbolic succession. The article contributes to broader debates on the temporality of institutions, the ritualization of memory, and the narrative construction of tradition.