Well I doubt that any of you even know of other popes (most of us aren't old enough). I wasn't even a month old when John Paul II became the pope...
I got some interesting trivia though...
As you know there were only two popes that saw the turn of the milenia (we only had two millenia according to the curently accepted year count).
The previous pope Sylvester II (999 - 1003) was also not an Italian (was French) and he was trying to keep the church together (that was before the great schizm - afte which the ortodox church went its seperate way).
There are a few similarity between the two...
The most likely candidate for the next pope in my opinion is the arch-bishop of Millano (happened many times in the past). But we have the current one and the ex-one who are both considere to be the candidates.
Well who ever will become the next pontifix will have a difficoult job to live up to the expectations of people around the globe.
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