Which popes do you have a devotion to and why?

Which popes do you have a devotion to and why?

I was thinking about popes recently. Someone posted to Facebook asking people to share their favourite pope and why. I found that I could not immediately answer. For I have felt an affinity to a number of popes for different reasons. The first to come to mind was:

Pope John XXIII

Pope from October 28th 2938-June 3rd 2963

I went to Pope John XXIII primary school for SK, grades 1,2 and 4. And always felt closeness to him. The next that came to mind was John Paul II, I remember this man taking Peter's Chair, and he was pope for most of my life.

Pope John Paul II

Pope from October 16th 1978 - April 2nd 2005

Next was his successor. Pope Benedict XVI the scholar.

Pope Benedict XVI

Pope from April 19th 2005 - February 28th 2013

Then Pope Pius XII, I encountered him often in my academic studies and have a soft spot for him, thought I could not specify why.

Pope Pius XII

Pope from March 2nd 1939 - October 9th 1958

And finally Pope Paul VI, he called reconvened Vatican II, he made John Paul I, John Paul II and Benedict XVI cardinals during his pontificate.

Pope Paul VI

Pope from Jun 21st 1963 - August 6th 1978

Back in my Windows XP days I used the below two as desktop backgrounds for a long time.

So which popes do you have a devotion to and why?

Note: This book is part of a series of reviews: 2017 Catholic Reading Plan!