Pope Benedict XVI

Who is Pope Benedict XVI?

Joseph Aloisius Ratzinger was born in Marktl am Inn, Bavaria, Germany, in 1927. A distinguished theologian, he served as a peritus, or theological expert, at the Second Vatican Council in the 1960s before becoming Archbishop of Munich and Freising and later Prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith under Pope John Paul II for more than two decades, during which he became one of the Church's foremost doctrinal authorities. In April 2005 he was elected pope, taking the name Benedict XVI and becoming the first German pope in nearly a thousand years. His pontificate was marked by scholarly encyclicals such as Deus Caritas Est and Caritas in Veritate, efforts to address the clergy sexual abuse crisis, and outreach to Anglican and Eastern Orthodox communities. In February 2013 he made history by becoming the first pope in nearly six hundred years to resign the papacy, citing declining strength, and took the title Pope Emeritus. He lived in retirement within the Vatican until his death in 2022.

Sources: Pope Benedict XVI, Deus Caritas Est, encyclical, 25 December 2005 · Pope Benedict XVI, Declaratio (resignation announcement), 11 February 2013 · Peter Seewald, Benedict XVI: A Life (2020)