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Pope Benedict

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Name Pope Benedict XVI
Original  Name Joseph Ratzinger
Date of Birth April 16, 1927
Birth Place Marktl Am Inn, Germany
Considers his hometown  Traunstein, Germany
Family Father:Josef Ratzinger
Mother: Maria
Brother: Georg
Sister:Maria
Education *Schooling  in Freising
*Philosophy and theology at the University of Munich
Doctorate Thesis entitled: “The People and House of God in St. Augustine�s doctrine of the Church”.
Taught Dogma and fundamental theology at the higher school of philosophy and theology of Freising. Was also a professor of dogmatic theology and of the history of dogma at the University of Regensburg and Vice President of the same university.
Papacy  Elected as a new Pope on Tuesday, April 19, 2005.
Is the  265th Pope
First Speech as a Pope “After our great pope, John Paul II, the cardinals have elected me, a simple, humble worker in the vineyard of the Lord”
Was  Pope John Paul II’s chief theological adviser for 20 years.
Driving force behind Crackdowns on liberation theology, religious pluralism, challenges to traditional moral teachings on issues such as homosexuality, and dissent on such issues as women’s ordination.
Characteristics as a  * Person: spontaneous wit, charm, courtesy, shy and gentle person
* Professor: one of the  best-prepared and most-caring
Title  ‘Prefect of the Congregation of the Doctrine of the Faith’ when Pope John Paul II appointed him guardian of the church’s doctrine.
Benedicts means blessing in Latin
First The first German Pope in 1,000 years
Ascent to Papacy
  • 1939 Started his seminary studies  as a 12-year-old with joy and great expectations.
  • June 29,1951-Ordained as a priest
  • March 1977, Paul VI elected him Archbishop of Munich and Freising
  • 28 May 1977 he was consecrated, the first diocesan priest after 80 years to take over the pastoral ministry of this large Bavarian diocese.
  • June 27, 1977 -was ordained a cardinal and is appointed cardinal-priest of S. Marie Consolatrice al Tiburtino.
  • Nov 25, 1981 – appointed president of International Theological Commission, Prefect of Doctrine of the Faith, and President of Pontifical Biblical Commission, Roman Curia.
  • Feb 15 1982 – resigned as archbishop of Munich.
  • April 5, 1993 -Appointed cardinal-bishop of Velletri-Segni.
  • Nov 30, 2002: Appointed as a Cardinal -Bishop of Ostia
  • April 19, 2005 – Elected Pope
Deeply moved by candlelight services and midnight Mass.
Nazi army Was drafted as an assistant to a Nazi anti-aircraft unit in Munich in 1943
Escaped recruitment by the dreaded SS because he said he was training to be a priest.
Deserted the Nazi army April 1945
Took part 1962-65 Second Vatican Council, a major attempt to modernize the faith
Some of his publications * �Introduction to Christianity� a collection of university lessons on the profession of apostolic faith, published in 1968
* Dogma and revelation, an anthology of essays, sermons and reflections dedicated to the pastoral ministry, published in 1973.
* ‘God and the World,’ published in 2000.
* “Values in a Time of Upheaval”
* “Aus meinem Leben,” published in English as “Milestones: Memoirs 1927-1977.”
Positions held 
  • Relator of the 5th General Assembly of the Synod of Bishops (1980).
  • President Delegate to the 6th Synodal Assembly (1983).
  • President of the Commission for the Preparation of the Catechism of the Catholic Church, and after 6 years of work (1986-92) he presented the New Catechism to the Pope.
  • Laurea honoris causa in jurisprudence from the Libera Universit� Maria Santissima Assunta, 10 November 1999.
  • Honorary member of the Pontifical Academy of Sciences, 13 November 2000.
  • Prefect of Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith
  • President of the Pontifical Biblical Commission and International Theological Commission
  • Dean of the College of Cardinals
Languages speaks 10 languages including heavily accented Italian.
Music accomplished pianist with a preference for Beethoven.
Health * Suffered a cerebral hemorrhage that temporarily affected his left field of vision in September 1991
* He cut his head after slipping in the bathroom during a vacation in the Italian Alps in August 1992.
Facts
  • was the oldest of the major contenders to be the Pope.
  • When John Paul II became more ill, he sometimes helped him lead ceremonies.
  • Was one of only two cardinals in the latest conclave that was not chosen by John Paul.
  • Served as the late Pope John Paul II’s chief theological adviser.
  • Headed of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith for two decades.
  • The oldest Pope elected was Clement XII, who was chosen in 1730 at 78 but was three months older than the present Pope.
  • Was elected in the fourth ballot of a conclave attended by 115 cardinal-electors, from 52 countries, in the Vatican’s Sistine Chapel. It was the fastest election since the choice of Pius XII in 1939.
  • When released from a U.S. POW camp he hitched a ride back home on a milk truck.
His Views on No to woman priests: In order to protect true doctrine, to safeguard the communion and unity of the church and to guide consciences of the faithful.Secularism: We are in a very grave moment; radical secularism may destroy humanism.

Cloning: More dangerous threat than weapons of mass destruction.

Threats to the Church: Ideologies such as Marxism, liberalism, atheism and agnosticism, collectivism, and what he called “radical individualism” and “vague religious mysticism.”

Rock Music: Vehicle of Anti-religion

Turkey: Turkey’s bid to join the Europe Union conflicts with Europe’s Christian roots

Buddhism: As a religion of self-indulgent

Homosexuality: as a “tendency” towards an “intrinsic moral evil”.
Unflattering nicknames Panzercardinal, God’s rottweiler, and the Grand Inquisitor
Biography ‘Cardinal Ratzinger: The Vatican’s Enforcer of the Faith’- written by Allen
Quote �I can be obedient, because it is my fundamental conviction that my intelligence is limited and the church is wiser.�

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