Joseph Ratzinger

1927–2022

5 standalone books

Joseph Alois Ratzinger was born in Marktl, Bavaria, Germany, the son of a police officer. At the age of five, he expressed a desire to become a cardinal. He was conscripted into the Hitler Youth in 1941 and later drafted into the German anti-aircraft corps in 1943, though he deserted in 1945. After returning home, he was briefly imprisoned in a POW camp before resuming his studies in the seminary. He was ordained in 1951. Ratzinger held academic positions at several German universities, including Freising College, the University of Bonn, the University of Münster, and the University of Tübingen, where he was appointed to a chair in dogmatic theology. He co-founded the theological journal Communio in 1972. In 1977, he was appointed Archbishop of Munich and Freising and named Cardinal-Priest of Santa Maria Consolatrice al Tiburtino. He was later appointed Prefect of the Sacred Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith by Pope John Paul II. In 2005, Ratzinger was elected Pope and chose the name Benedict XVI. He was the 265th pope of the Catholic Church, serving from 2005 to 2013.

Born

1927