Pope Benedict XVI
Pope Benedict XVI was the first pope in nearly six centuries to resign. Born Joseph Ratzinger in Bavaria in 1927 on Holy Saturday, the son of a policeman opposed to the Nazis, he was enrolled in the Hitler Youth when membership became compulsory, was conscripted into an anti-aircraft unit at sixteen and into the infantry, and deserted in 1945. He was ordained in 1951 with his brother, took a doctorate, and became a theologian of the first rank, serving as an expert adviser at the Second Vatican Council on the reforming side. The student unrest of 1968 at Tübingen appears to have changed his direction; he moved to Regensburg and became increasingly concerned with doctrinal discipline. John Paul II made him Prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith in 1981, and he held it for twenty-four years, disciplining liberation theologians, restating the church's positions on sexuality and on other religions, and acquiring the nickname God's Rottweiler. He was elected in 2005 at seventy-eight. His pontificate emphasised continuity with tradition, liberalised the Latin mass, and produced three encyclicals and a series of books on Jesus written as a private theologian. His Regensburg lecture of 2006, quoting a Byzantine emperor on Islam, produced riots and required repeated clarification. He tightened procedures on clerical sexual abuse and met victims, and was criticised over his handling of cases in Munich and in the CDF. He resigned in February 2013, citing lack of strength, and lived as pope emeritus in the Vatican gardens until 2022.
- Lived: 1927 CE – 2022 CE
- Nationality: German
- Roles: Pope (2005-2013)
