Portal:Catholicism/Selected biography/6

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Pope Benedict XVI (Latin: Benedictus PP. XVI; Italian: Benedetto XVI, born Joseph Alois Ratzinger on 16 April 1927) is the 265th and reigning Pope, the spiritual head of the Catholic Church, and as such, Sovereign of the Vatican City State. He was elected on 19 April 2005 in a papal conclave, celebrated his Papal Inauguration Mass on 24 April 2005, and took possession of his cathedral, the Basilica of St. John Lateran, on 7 May 2005. Pope Benedict XVI has both German and Vatican citizenship. He succeeded Pope John Paul II, who died on 2 April 2005 (and with whom he had worked before the Sede vacante). Benedict XVI is also the Bishop of Rome. Benedict XVI is a well-known Catholic theologian and a prolific author, a defender of traditional Catholic doctrine and values.
Read more...