Pope Benedict XVI

Born: 1927

The Pope

The current Pope Benedict XVI was born as Joseph Alois Ratzinger in the little town of Marktl, situated on the banks of the Inn River in southeastern Bavaria. Joseph Alois Ratzinger grew up in Traunstein, a small village in typical rural Bavarian surroundings, where he spent most of his childhood and youth. To this day, the Pope considers Traunstein and the surrounding area in Bavaria his home.

From 1946 to 1951, the Pope studied philosophy and theology in the Higher School of Philosophy and Theology of Freising and at the University of Munich. He received his priestly ordination on 29 June 1951. A year later he began teaching at Freising and thereafter taught at the Universities of Bonn, Münster and Tübingen. He also held the Chair of Dogmatics at the University of Regensburg, where he was also Vice-President of the University. On 25 March 1977 Pope Paul VI named him Archbishop of Munich and Freising.

On April 19, 2005, Joseph Ratzinger was elected the 265th Pope of the Catholic Church. He is the first Pope with German roots in 482 years.

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