Pope John Paul II or Pope Benedict XVI
It's been nearly four years since our beloved Pope John Paul II completed his earthly mission, so that raises the question. Does he have staying power? Is he more beloved than the blessing God granted us with the election of Cardinal Ratzinger to the Chair of Peter?
According to Google's number of keyword searches for terms like John Paul, Ratzinger or Pope Benedict there is a clear winner. And it is . . .
For obvious keyword searches Pope John Paul II has 793,000 monthly searches, as compared to Pope Benedict's 268,000 searches. Did you notice that number? That's over a million monthly searches combined!
I must confess. Pope Benedict could be the winner. There are two terms that are too generic to give credit to either of these great Popes. The term "pope" gets 1.5 million searches and "benedict" gets 550,000 searches. Of course most of the searches for Benedict would be for our current Pope, but you could be looking for St. Benedict, Benedict College, Benedictine, Benedict Arnold etc, which makes the correct percentage clearly foggy and would be a uneducated guess at best. The term Pope is just too generic of a search term.
The most obvious conclusion is that people love their Papa's, whether it is John Paul or Benedict. With over 2.5 million monthly searches, the Holy Father has a strong influence even in today's secular world.
Here are highly recommended books by and about Pope John Paul and Pope Benedict.
John Quinn
According to Google's number of keyword searches for terms like John Paul, Ratzinger or Pope Benedict there is a clear winner. And it is . . .
Pope John Paul II
For obvious keyword searches Pope John Paul II has 793,000 monthly searches, as compared to Pope Benedict's 268,000 searches. Did you notice that number? That's over a million monthly searches combined!
But Not So Fast . . .
I must confess. Pope Benedict could be the winner. There are two terms that are too generic to give credit to either of these great Popes. The term "pope" gets 1.5 million searches and "benedict" gets 550,000 searches. Of course most of the searches for Benedict would be for our current Pope, but you could be looking for St. Benedict, Benedict College, Benedictine, Benedict Arnold etc, which makes the correct percentage clearly foggy and would be a uneducated guess at best. The term Pope is just too generic of a search term.
There it is.
The most obvious conclusion is that people love their Papa's, whether it is John Paul or Benedict. With over 2.5 million monthly searches, the Holy Father has a strong influence even in today's secular world.
Please comment and tell us, who is your favorite Pope and why. The world would love to know.
Here are highly recommended books by and about Pope John Paul and Pope Benedict.
John Quinn
Posts
9 comments:
I don't think I have a favourite one. They are both inspiring leaders in my mind. I love the Moto Poprio from Benedict and I really liked John Paul's devotion to our Lady. He encouraged me to have a greater devotion to her.
Therese
I love both Popes, however, since he is currently our reigning Pontiff I will give the edge to Benedict XV1. Given that he started out being maligned by the media and some Catholics, I believe he has shown with his gentleness and humility (while not ever compromising his message of faith) the power of God to work through even shy people. The fact that he has a remarkable intellect is also very impressive.
Maureen
Hi, I am (still) a Protestant and I don't know if my vote means anything to you guys. Well, both these popes have my greatest admiration, but I have to admit that Benedict XVI is my absolute hero. I place him "above" John Paul II at present because I think he is immensely brave in so many respects. Can't write an essay on hom here, so this has to be it ofr now. Will visit this site again.
Please pray for Papa Ratzinger and let him feel that you also love and back him! I think he is a much more sensitive person than most people realise. And he has had to take a lot of flak in his life already. I really love this man.
Why pit Pope against Pope?
Hi Kevin,
Thank you for the comment. I believe if you look at my last paragraph, you will see that I am not pitting Pope against Pope.
Anyway, is it wrong to have a favorite Pope? Personally, I feel that Pope Benedict is the perfect complement to Pope John Paul.
Hello to my Anonymous Pope Admirer,
By all means, your vote does count.
It is truly heartening to find Protestants who admire fellow Christians who stand firm in Biblical beliefs. If only more of us Catholics admired our Pope, they would realize what a great gift we have been given in these two Popes.
May I be so bold as to ask, what is keeping you from joining the Church?
Peace be to you,
John
Very interesting, John Michael! By the way, I love the new look you have here. Great job!
I Love Papa John Paul II I Pray to Him, he is my Favourite Saint (althought yet to be Canonised.)
Yet I Love Papa Benedict as Much as I Love John Paul II.!!
I Love Them Equally.
Ahh Our Blessed Papa's We Are So Blessed.
No Favourites I Love Them Both.
Our Precious Papa's Thank YOU GOD.
Nola from sydney australia.
Dear John Micheal,
A great question! My two cents worth goes like this.
John Paul II the Great started a process that Benedict XVI is now completing.
With that being said, I am of both Polish and German heritage. So I am still split via ethno-happiness.
Both Popes have and had a long term investment in the new renaissance that is starting to emerge within the Society of Jesus.
In conclusion I love them both equally.
JMJ
Joe
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