Well there you have it

Courtesy Amy Wellborn:

After Ratzinger was elected, Mahony said the new pope was asked what name he had chosen.

"He said, 'I'm going to take Benedict XVI,' but then went on to explain why, which is very interesting," Mahony said.

His first reason was that his namesake, Pope Benedict XV, reigned from 1914 to 1922 during World War I. "It was the worst scourge of war ever known on the face of the earth" at the time, Mahony said.

"So he said we still need to be working at peacemaking, reconciliation and harmony around the world," Mahony said.

The second reason offered by Ratzinger was that St. Benedict, who founded the Benedictine Order, said that "Jesus Christ is first and foremost. Everything else is secondary. [Ratzinger] said those are the reasons [he] chose the name."

Now I can get some sleep.