After he was elected pope, Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger took the name Benedict XVI to honor an earlier pontiff who argued for peace during World War I. Could it be that maybe–just maybe–he changed his name because he was tired of being confused with another J. Ratz-en-something? Let’s take a look.
OCCUPATION
Joseph Ratzinger
Spiritual leader of the world’s 1 billion Catholics.
John Ratzenberger
Actor best known for his role as Cliff Clavin, the trivia-spewing mailman on “Cheers.”
WINNER: Ratzinger. Sure, Cliff Clavin is one of TV’s all-time great comedy characters. But come on, people, Ratzinger is the pope.
BRUSH WITH GREATNESS
Joseph Ratzinger
For two decades Ratzinger served as the right-hand man to Pope John Paul II.
John Ratzenberger
From 1982 to 1993, Ratzenberger served as the right-hand man to Norm.
WINNER: Ratzinger. Right-hand man to John Paul II? Yeah, that’s pretty hard to beat.
PERKS
Joseph Ratzinger
Goes directly to heaven when he dies. No lines. No waiting. No questions asked.
John Ratzenberger
Can probably buy “Cheers” DVDs at a discount.
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WINNER: Ratzinger. Next.
GROWING UP
Joseph Ratzinger
Born in a Bavarian village at the base of the Alps in 1927. Entered the seminary at age 12, but World War II derailed his studies. Was finally ordained in 1951.
John Ratzenberger
Born in Bridgeport, Conn., in 1947. Attended Sacred Heart University, where he started an improv comedy troupe called “Sal’s Meat Market” in 1971.
WINNER: Push. It would have been another cake walk for the pope, but Ratzenberger evens it up with his Sacred Heart connection.
LATIN LOVERS
Joseph Ratzinger
When the pope was introduced to the crowd at St. Peter’s Square, the senior cardinal deacon declared, “Habemus papam.” (“We have a pope.”)
John Ratzenberger
When Cliff tried to argue that DNA stands for “Dames are Not Aggressive” he supported his case with, “Ah, yes, but, uh, parse that in the Latin declension and, uh, my point is still moot.”
WINNER: Ratzinger. He knows Latin like the back of his hand. Ratzenberger as Cliff can barely make a complete sentence–in English.
DID YOU KNOW?
Joseph Ratzinger
An accomplished pianist who loves Mozart, Ratzinger enjoys playing the grand piano in the seminary’s main hall.
John Ratzenberger
Ratzenberger is the only actor to have done voice work in all of Pixar Animation’s feature films.
WINNER: Ratzenberger. Yes, we know the piano is very difficult to play.
But not even Tom Hanks has appeared in all the Pixar movies.
OVERALL WINNER: Ratzinger. Did you think we were going to pick against the pope? Ratzenberger is funny, but we’d like to think Benedict XVI carries more weight.