Pope Benedict XVI Pope Benedict XVI Pope Benedict XVI (; ; ; born Joseph Aloisius Ratzinger; ; 16 April 1927) served as Pope of the Catholic Church and as sovereign of the Vatican City State from 2005 until his resignation in 2013. Benedict's election as pope occurred in the 2005 papal conclave that followed the death of Pope John Paul II. The Vatican announced his withdrawal by bestowing him the title Pope Emeritus shortly after his resignation. Ordained as a priest in 1951 in his native Bavaria, Ratzinger had established himself as a highly regarded university theologian by the late 1950s and was
Joseph Ratzinger as Prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith Joseph Ratzinger as Prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith Joseph Ratzinger was named by Pope John Paul II on 25 November 1981 Cardinal-Prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, formerly known as the Holy Office and, especially around the sixteenth century, as the Roman Inquisition. He became both Archbishop of Munich-Freising and a cardinal in 1977. He resigned as archbishop in early 1982, in light of his new duties as Prefect. While continuing to be Prefect, Ratzinger was promoted within the College of Cardinals to become Cardinal-Bishop of Velletri-Segni in 1993, and became