ABOUT THIS EPISODE
Leo - Episode P2
Artwork: by Francesco Solimena - Web Gallery of Art: Public Domain, Wikimedia Commons
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“That’s So Second Millennium” retains its online longevity, posting this 149th episode. We invite listeners to keep returning with us to our past-present-future perspectives on the world’s third millennium (Anno Domini or Common Era). Former college professor Dr. Paul Giesting (call him Paul) resumes and expands his discussion of the “pope name bracket” he created, inspired partly by the 2025 basketball season but well-informed by the Church’s remarkable past.
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In this podcast’s new season of episodes, which began with Papal Names Bracket—Part 1, we continue our review of popes’ names in context, including the popularity of certain names. It’s a handy launch pad for a quick and insightful tour of history.
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See below the database Paul established as a guide to our sweeping review of the au courant name “Leo.” Like the “TSSM” podcast, it keeps popping up!
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(Paul credits assistance from The Catholic Encyclopedia, still authoritative though first published in 1914 and preserved and presented at the New Advent website. As a valuable resource, it too keeps popping up.)
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Pope St. Leo I "The Great" 440-461 - of the Tome and the pacification of Attila the Hun
Pope St. Leo II 682-3
Pope St. Leo III 795-816 - who crowned Charlemagne in 800
Pope St. Leo IV 847-853
Pope Leo V 903?
Pope Leo VI 928-9
Pope Leo VII 936-9
Pope Leo VIII 964-5
Pope Leo IX (Bruno) 1049-54 - early reformer in an era of simony and clerical incontinence
Pope Leo X (Giovanni de Medici) 1513-1521 - Renaissance pope at the time of Luther
Pope Leo XI (Alessandro de Medici) 1605
Pope Leo XII (Annibale della Genga) 1823-1829
Pope Leo XIII (Gioacchino Pecci) 1878-1903 - Author of Rerum Novarum
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Paul inserts this personal comment about his presentation, recorded Jan. 17, 2026, before the historical tour begins: Please pardon the awkward insertion of "from Irenaeus of" [Lyon] into the episode toward the end...I had originally, mistakenly, called him Ignatius...and a few oddly timed pauses where I took the opportunity to blank out some even more excessive than usual "uhs". I miss podcasting and being in the classroom to keep me sharper on my speaking skills.
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Note that Pope Leo XIII and our present-day Pope Leo XIV are scholars of the Catholic Church’s Canon Law. You can read the entire tome here. Now that’s transparency!
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Bill Schmitt concludes the episode with his co-host contributions, kindly appended to the podcast by producer Paul. Bill’s dual focus is the context of Pope Leo XIII’s huge contributions and their relevance to these days of Leo XIV. Leave it to Bill to segue from profound Church history to the subject of Greenland.
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You can read Bill’s ongoing “Phronesis in Pieces” commentaries—on the intersection of Catholic values, public affairs, and trends in communications—at billschmitt.substack.com and at OnWord.net.
