Joseph Ratzinger, who became Pope Benedict XVI on 19 April 2005, was born on 16 April 1927 in Marktl am Inn, Germany.
Before the death of Pope John Paul II, who was Pontiff for 27 years, Cardinal Ratzinger, as he then was, held the positio ns of Prefect of Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith (formerly known as the Holy Office of the Inquisition), President of the Pontifical Biblical Commission and International Theological Commission, and Dean of the College of Cardinals.
Ratzinger had presided over Pope John Paul II’s funeral and was said to be among the previous pontiff’s closest friends.
Joseph Ratzinger’s father was a police officer, and when he was 14, Ratzinger joined the Hitler Youth.
Towards the end of World War II, Joseph Ratzinger served in the German auxiliary anti-aircraft service, but he deserted the German army and was briefly held as a prisoner of war by the Allies in 1945.
From 1946 to 1951, Ratzinger studied philosophy and theology at the University of Munich and at the higher school in Freising. He was ordained a priest on 29 June 1951.
Joseph Ratzinger taught theology and dogma and also wrote many books. In 1962 he became a consultor at Vatican Council II, of the Archbishop of Cologne, Cardinal Joseph Frings.
In March 1977, Paul VI elected Ratzinger Archbishop of Munich, and on 27 June 1977 he was created and proclaimed Cardinal by Paul VI.
It was on 25 November 1981 that the future Pope Benedict XVI was nominated by John Paul II Prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith; President of the Biblical Commission and of the Pontifical International Theological Commission.
Pope Benedict XVI has been dubbed a doctrinal conservative. When he was a cardinal he campaigned against liberation theology, and described homosexuality as a ‘tendency’ towards an ‘intrinsic moral evil’.
