Who was the pope before pope benedict
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Pope Benedict XVI
Head of the Catholic Church from 2005 to 2013
Pope Benedict XVI (Latin: Benedictus PP. XVI; Italian: Benedetto XVI; German: Benedikt XVI; born Joseph Alois Ratzinger, German:[ˈjoːzɛfˈʔaːlɔɪ̯sˈʁat͡sɪŋɐ]; 16 April 1927 – 31 December 2022) was head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 19 April 2005 until his resignation on 28 February 2013. Benedict's election as pope occurred in the 2005 papal conclave that followed the death of Pope John Paul II. Upon his resignation, Benedict chose to be known as "Pope emeritus", and he retained this title until his death in 2022.[9][10]
Ordained as a priest in 1951 in his native Bavaria, Ratzinger embarked on an academic career and established himself as a highly regarded theologian by the late 1950s. He was appointed a full professor in 1958 at the age of 31. After a long career as a professor of theology at several German universities, he was appointed Archbishop of Munich and Freising and created a cardinal by Pope Paul VI in 1977, an unu
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Pope Benedict XVI
On April 18, 2005, Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger was elected the 264th successor of Saint Peter and chose the name Benedict XVI. His papacy testifies to both a scholarly churchman, having extensively studied theology and philosophy, and pastoral sensitivity. When elected pope at age 78, he didn't anticipate traveling the globe given his age and health, but quickly realized that the best way to reach the people of God was to go to them. He attended the first World Youth Day in Germany just months after his election. On February 28, 2013, Pope Benedict announced his resignation, becoming the first pope in almost 600 years to resign from the papacy. Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI passed away on December 31, 2022 at the age of 95. Read the full biography of Pope Benedict on the Vatican website.
Vatican Website
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Joseph Ratzinger (Pope Benedict XVI) was born on 16 April 1927 in Marktl am Inn, Germany.
His father, a police officer, came from a traditional family of farmers from Lower Bavaria. He spent his adolescent years in Traunstein, a small town on the Austrian border.
It was in this context, which Pope Benedict XVI himself has described as "Mozartian", that he received his Christian, human and cultural formation.
Second World War
Joseph's days of youth were far from easy.
His faith and family upbringing prepared him for the harsh experience of the problems connected with the Nazi regime; he even remembers seeing his parish priest being beaten by Nazis before celebrating Holy Mass, and was well aware of the fiercely hostile atmosphere to the Catholic Church that existed in Germany at the time.
Towards the end of World War II, Joseph was enrolled in the auxiliary anti-aircraft service.
Priest, professor, Vatican Council
From 1946 to 1951, he studied philosophy and theology at the University of Munich and at the higher school in Freising. Together
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