On April 18, 2005, Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger was elected the 265th of the Catholic Church and also made a decision the name Benedict XVI. His papacy testifies to both a scholarly churchman, having actually broadly stupassed away theology and also ideology, and pastdental sensitivity. When elected pope at age 78, he didn"t anticipate traveling the globe offered his age and also wellness, but quickly realized that the finest means to reach the human being of God was to go to them. He attended the first World Youth Day in Germany type of just months after his election. On February 28, 2013, Pope Benedict announced his resignation, becoming the initially pope in almost 600 years to reauthorize from the papacy. Read the complete biography of Pope Benedict on the Vatihave the right to website.
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Vatican Website

Coat of Arms
Pope Benedict XVI chose the motto "Cooperatores Veritatis" (Cooperators of the Truth) for his coat of arms. The architecture of the shield takes impetus from the monastic and Benedictine traditions of spirituality. The shield consists of symbols he had actually currently provided in his arms as soon as he was Archbishop of Munich and Freising, and also consequently as Cardinal. Read the full summary of his Coat of Arms on the Vatican"s webwebsite.
Fast Facts
Date of Birth | April 16, 1927 |
Country of Origin | Bavaria, Germany |
Area of Study | Theology & Philosophy |
Priesthood Ordination | June 29, 1951 |
Episcopal Ordination | May 28, 1977 |
Pontificate | April 19, 2005 - February 28, 2013 |
Personal Motto | Cooperatores veritatis (Cooperators of the truth) |
Pope Benedict XVI Brief Biography
Studies approach and also theology at the Higher School of Philosophy and also Theology of Freising and the Herzogliches Georgianum, a theological institute connected via the College of Munich.
By regulation is compelled to enter the “Hitler Youth” at age 14 and also then gets drafted into the Germale army at age 16. Deserts the army in 1945 through his brvarious other Georg to rejoin the seminary.
Qualifies for university teaching and writes his dissertation on The Theology of History in St. Bonaendeavor.
Elevated by Pope John Paul II to the Order of Bishops within the College of Cardinals, assigning to him the suburbicarian (titulary) view of Velletri-Segni.
Pope John Paul II approves of the election of Cardinal Ratzinger as the Vice Dean of the College of Cardinals.
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Pope John Paul II approves of the election of Cardinal Ratzinger as the Dean of the College of Cardinals and also provides him the title of Cardinal-Bishop of Ostia.
Encyclicals
Title | Date |
Caritas in veritate | June 29, 2009 |
Spe salvi | November 30, 2007 |
Deus cartias est | December 25, 2005 |
Apostolic Exhortations
Title | Date |
Ecclesia in Medio Oriente: Post-Synodal Apostolic Exhortation on the Church in the Center East: Communion and Witness | September 14, 2012 |
Africae Munus: Post-Synodal Apostolic Exhortation on the Church in Africa in Service to Reconciliation, Justice and also Peace | November 19, 2011 |
Verbum Domini: Post-Synodal Apostolic Exhortation on the Word of God in the Life and Mission of the Church | September 30, 2010 |
Sacramentum Caritatis: Post-Synodal Apostolic Exhortation on the Eucharist as the Source and also Summit of the Church"s Life and also Mission | February 22, 2007 |
"Being Christian is not the outcome of an honest choice or a lofty idea, but the enrespond to via an event, a person, which offers life a brand-new horizon and a decisive direction." (Deus Caritas Est, 1)
– Pope Benedict XVI
"The means of the Lord are not straightforward, however we were not produced for a simple life, yet for great things, for goodness." (Address to German Pilgrims who had concerned Rome to attend the inauguration of his Pontificate, April 25, 2005)
– Pope Benedict XVI
"We are moving towards a dictatorship of relativism which does not acknowledge anything as for certain and which has actually as its greatest goal one's very own ego and also one's very own desires." (Homily as Dean of the College of Cardinals, April 18, 2005)
– Pope Benedict XVI
"God is not distant: he is 'Emmanuel,' God-with-us. He is no stranger: he has actually a face, the challenge of Jesus." (Urbi et Orbi, December 25, 2010)
– Pope Benedict XVI
"Dear friends, might no adversity paralyze you. Be afraid neither of the people, nor of the future, nor of your weakness. The Lord has actually allowed you to live in this moment of history so that, by your confidence, his name will certainly continue to resound throughout the people." (Prayer Vigil with Young People prior to 2sixth World Youth Day in Madrid, 2011)
– Pope Benedict XVI
"The Cross reminds us that tright here is no true love without enduring, tright here is no gift of life without pain." (General Audience, September 17, 2008)
– Pope Benedict XVI
"If we enable the love of Christ to change our heart, then we deserve to readjust the human being. This is the trick of authentic happiness." (Apostolic Journey to Mexico and the Republic of Cuba, March 2012)
– Pope Benedict XVI
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