Joseph Alois Ratzinger was born in Marktl am Inn, Bavaria, on April 16, 1927—Holy Saturday—and baptized that same day; the first person baptized in the new Easter water. It was a sign of blesing, he wrote in a memoir, that his life from the beginning was thus immersed in the Easter mystery. He entered the minor seminary in 1939 at the age of 12, but his studies were interrupted by World War II, when the seminary was closed and Joseph, along with most of his class, was drafted into the army at the age of 16.
After the war, he resumed his education in philosophy and theology, and together with his brother, Georg, was ordained a priest in 1951. During the course of a 21-year career as a professor of dogma and theology at several German universities, he earned a reputation as a gifted lecturer and learned scholar, and was present as a peritus (theological advisor) at all four sessions of the Second Vatican Council.
Ordained an archbishop in May 1977, he was elevated to the College of Cardinals a month later. He settled in Rome in 1981 and went on to become one of the most influential men in the Roman curia. Of the many offices he held, he is best known as the Prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, an authoritative advisor on doctrinal issues during his predecessor’s pontificate. When he was elected the 265th successor of Peter in 2005, at the age of 78, he became the first German pope since Victor II in the eleventh century. He chose the name “Benedict” to echo St. Benedict’s remarkable spiritual and cultural reformation in his time, and Cardinal Ratzinger became Pope Benedict XVI.
A central theme of Pope Benedict XVI’s papacy has been the staunch defense of core Christian values against what he sees as moral decline across much of Europe. At the same time, he has sought to improve relations with other religions, with the aim of fostering what some call “cultural synthesis,” and to do so in a way that retains the full and unique identity of the Catholic faith while engaged in discourse with the Lutheran World Federation, Jusaism, Islam, the Anglican Communion, and Christian Orthodox churches. He has spoken out against human rights abuses, political conflicts and warfare. In several profound encyclicals he has emphasized the imperative need to keep man’s ultimate purpose—namely, to know love and serve God in this life in order to live with Him for all eternity in the next—foremost in mind when addressing issues that involve the human person such as economic systems, stewardship of our natural resources, serving the common good, and more.
He often underscored—in his encyclicals and in his talks—that the environment and economic systems exist for the good of man and his eternal purpose, not the other way around.
He explained that good-sounding causes, environmental movements and economic proposals which do not address and foster man’s highest calling and ultimate purpose (including the fundamental right to life at all stages), ultimately destroys the very things it claims to preserve and, even worse, is destructive to man’s ultimate well-being. Such systems and proposals must serve man in his eternal journey, not destroy him.
Faithful in word and deed to his episcopal motto, “Fellow Worker in the Truth,” Pope Benedict XVI’s writings and teachings have consistently defended the Catholic doctrine and principles which have been handed down unblemished through more than 2,000 years of Church history, since the time of Christ.
On February 11, 2013, Pope Benedict XVI announced that on February 28, 2013, he would resign as supreme pontiff due to advanced age and deteriorating health, and that a conclave would soon thereafter be convened to elect a new pope. He will focus more exclusively on a life of intense prayer, which he feels called to follow.