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Benedetto XVI
Pope

Papa Benedetto XVI

Pope (2005-2013), Pope Emeritus

Santa Sede · Roma · Germania

Joseph Ratzinger, a German theologian born in 1927, was Pope from 19 April 2005 until 28 February 2013, when he renounced the Petrine ministry. Formerly Prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, he died as Pope Emeritus on 31 December 2022.

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Biography

Joseph Aloisius Ratzinger was born in Marktl am Inn, Bavaria, on 16 April 1927. Ordained a priest in 1951, he was a theologian and professor at several German universities and an expert at the Second Vatican Council. In 1977 Paul VI appointed him Archbishop of Munich and Freising and created him a cardinal. In 1981 John Paul II called him to Rome as Prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, a post he held until 2005; from 2002 he was also Dean of the College of Cardinals. On 19 April 2005 the Conclave elected him Pope and he took the name Benedict XVI. His main documents include the Encyclicals Deus caritas est, Spe salvi and Caritas in veritate, as well as the Jesus of Nazareth trilogy. On 11 February 2013 he announced his renunciation of the Petrine ministry, effective 28 February: the first Pope to resign in centuries. As Pope Emeritus he lived in the Mater Ecclesiae monastery in the Vatican, where he died on 31 December 2022.

Career timeline

  1. 16 April 1927

    Joseph Ratzinger born in Marktl am Inn (Germany).

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  2. 29 June 1951

    Ordained a priest.

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  3. 25 March 1977

    Appointed Archbishop of Munich and Freising by Paul VI.

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  4. 28 May 1977

    Ordained a bishop.

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  5. 27 June 1977

    Created Cardinal by Paul VI, with the title of Santa Maria Consolatrice al Tiburtino.

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  6. 25 November 1981

    Appointed Prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith by John Paul II.

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  7. 15 February 1982

    Resigned the pastoral governance of the Archdiocese of Munich and Freising.

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  8. 5 April 1993

    Raised to the Order of Bishops, with the title of the Suburbicarian Church of Velletri-Segni.

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  9. 6 November 1998

    Appointed Vice-Dean of the College of Cardinals.

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  10. 27 November 2002

    Elected Dean of the College of Cardinals.

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  11. 30 November 2002

    Dean of the College of Cardinals, with the title of the Suburbicarian Church of Ostia.

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  12. 19 April 2005

    Elected Pope, taking the name Benedict XVI.

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  13. 11 February 2013

    Announced his renunciation of the Petrine ministry (Declaratio).

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  14. 28 February 2013

    Resignation from the papacy took effect (See vacant from 8 p.m.).

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  15. 31 December 2022

    Died at the Mater Ecclesiae Monastery in the Vatican.

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