Benedict XVI Biography

Pope Benedict XVI succeeded John Paul II as leader of the Catholic Church on April 19, 2005, and remained pope until his stunning resignation in 2013.

Born Joseph Ratzinger, the future pope was raised in Bavaria and entered seminary in 1939. His studies were interrupted in 1943 by forced service in Adolf Hitler‘s army, but he returned to seminary at the end of 1945. Ratzinger was ordained in 1951 and spent much of his career as a theology professor at universities in Germany.

In 1977 he was named Archbishop of Munich and Freising, and a few months later was elevated to cardinal. He became the Vatican’s Prefect for the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, charged with “safeguarding” church doctrine during the reign of John Paul II. Ratzinger was known for sharing the Pope’s strict adherence to traditional Catholic dogma. Ratzinger’s stern and staunchly conservative approach earned him the whimsical nickname of “Panzerkardinal,” a reference to the World War II battle tank.

John Paul II died in April of 2005; Ratzinger presided at his funeral, and then was elected as the next pope on the second day of the traditional conclave of cardinals. Ratzinger took the papal name of Pope Benedict XVI.

Eight years later, on February 11, 2013, he announced that he would resign as pope at the end of that month, saying he no longer had the strength of body and mind to “steer the boat of Saint Peter and proclaim the Gospel.” He was 85 years old when he made the announcement.  Benedict XVI became the first pope to resign since Gregory XII, who stepped down in 1415 to help settle a civil war in the church.

He was succeeded by Argentinian cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio, who took the name Pope Francis and became the first-ever pope from Latin America. Pope Benedict lived out the rest of his life in seclusion in the Vatican, dying in the Mater Ecclesiae Monastery there on the last day of 2022.