Given how long this NPC has been in the game and his name I wonder if Blizzard had this planned from the beginning and, if so, how much of the game's future plot they have written.

I like to believe that Warcraft is a complete - though epic - story with an ending locked in some secret safe deposit box in Zurich.

Well played, sir.

i approve
+1 internetz to you

And the current pope is named...?

The current pope is Benedict. He also took that position after World of Warcraft was already released. I'm not positive, but I'm pretty sure Benedictus was in the game at launch, not added in later.

However, if he was added later, this could be a huge statement against Catholicism by Blizzard, pushing their anti-religious views on an ususpecting public. Next we'll be showing our in-game disapproval by burning religious texts and fornicating in the streets! Madness!

Sorry. Forgot my tin foil hat.

The current pope, Benedict XVI was elected into office on April 15th, 2005... Archbishop Benedictus was added in patch 1.11.1 according to wowhead.com which was implemented on June 28th, 2006. So it's quite possible that they named the archbishop after the current pope.