Pope Benedict XVI: Difference between revisions
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'''Pope Benedict XVI''' | '''Pope Benedict XVI''', original name '''Joseph Alois Ratzinger''' (born 16 April 1925, [[Marktl Am Inn]], [[Bavaria]], Germany), is the current leader of the [[Roman Catholicism|Roman Catholic Church]]. He was elected on 19 April 2005, following the death of [[Pope John Paul II]]. | ||
Before becoming Pope, Ratzinger had been an academic [[theology|theologian]], and was later Prefect of the [[Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith]]. | Before becoming Pope, Ratzinger had been an academic [[theology|theologian]], and was later Prefect of the [[Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith]]. | ||
Revision as of 16:09, 2 December 2012
Pope Benedict XVI, original name Joseph Alois Ratzinger (born 16 April 1925, Marktl Am Inn, Bavaria, Germany), is the current leader of the Roman Catholic Church. He was elected on 19 April 2005, following the death of Pope John Paul II.
Before becoming Pope, Ratzinger had been an academic theologian, and was later Prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith.
As Pope, he has been theologically conservative and traditionalist. He has authored three Papal encyclicals so far: Deus Caritas Est ("God Is Love", a 2005 treatise on Christian love), Spe Salvi ("In Hope We Are Saved"; in 2007, on Christian hope) and Caritas in Veritate ("Charity in Truth"; in 2009, "On Integral Human Development in Charity and Truth").
Benedict XVI has visited the United States, Israel, Palestine, Jordan, Brazil, Poland, Spain, Germany, Austria, France, Malta, Turkey, Cameroon and Angola. He is planning a visit to the United Kingdom in 2010 which has been opposed by the National Secular Society and gay rights campaigners.