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Pope John Paul became the first pope to visit a mosque yesterday evening.
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Benedict is the first pope who really knows and understands Protestants.
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The first pope known to have changed his name was John II in 533.
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Benedict is considering becoming the first pope to resign since Gregory XII in 1415.
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A man named Peter opted for Sergius IV in 1009, avoiding comparison with the first pope.
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In 2013 he became the first pope in 600 years to resign.
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The first pope, by tradition Peter, was himself married -a fact that caused no crisis back then.
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On Thursday, US officials confirmed he would address Congress on 24 September, the first pope to do so.
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Pope Francis, the first pope from Latin America, has made defending the poor a hallmark of his papacy.
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John Paul was the first pope in history to visit a mosque; he did so in Damascus in 2001.
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Francis is the first pope from the religious order of the Jesuits, an order known for its intellectuals and iconoclasts.
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Gregory V. was the first pope of transalpine birth imposed by the Germans; Gerbert was the first of the French popes.
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Gregory did not originate these doctrines, but he was the first pope who ventured to make a practical application of them.
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A few weeks later Pope Benedict XVI dramatically announced his resignation: the first pope to do so for more than 500 years.
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The 85-year-old Benedict, the first pope to retire in 700 years, will step down on February 28.
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But he is chiefly remembered as the first pope to conceive a systematic plan for the reconstruction and permanent restoration of Rome.