It looks like you're offline.
Open Library logo
additional options menu
Last edited by Tom Morris
January 14, 2025 | History

Joseph Ratzinger

Joseph Alois Ratzinger was born in Marktl, Bavaria, Germany, the son of a police officer. At the age of five, he declared that he wanted to be a cardinal. In 1941, he was conscripted into the Hitler Youth, which was mandatory, although his father believe that Nazism conflicted with the Catholic faith. In 1943, while in seminary, he was drafted into the German anti-aircraft corps, although he deserted in 1945. When he returned home he was imprisoned in a POW camp, and returned to the seminary when he was released after a few months. He was ordained in 1951.

In 1958 Ratzinger became a professor of Freising College. He moved to the University of Bonn in 1959, the University of Münster in 1963, and the University of Tübingen in 1966, where he was appointed to a chair in dogmatic theology. While he was at Tübingen he witnessed the student movements of the 1960s, which culminated in disturbances and riots in spring of 1968. Although he was seen as a dogmatic reformist, he believed that the radicalization of the student body was a result of a departure from traditional Catholic teachings.

In 1969, Ratzinger was moved to the University of Regensburg in Bavaria. In 1972 he co-founded the theological journal Communio.

In 1977, Ratzinger was appointed Archbishop of Munich and Freising. That same year he was named Cardinal-Priest of Santa Maria Consolatrice al Tiburtino by Pope Paul VI. In 1981, Pope John Paul II named Ratzinger Prefect of the Sacred Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, and he resigned his post at Munich. In 1993 he became Cardinal Bishop of Velletri-Segni. In 2005, he was elected as the next Pope. He chose for himself the name Pope Benedict XVI.

pope of the Catholic Church from 2005 to 2013 (1927–2022)

Born 1927
Died 31 December 2022

892 works Add another?

  • Cover of: Introduction to Christianity

    My Reading Lists:

    Create a new list

  • Cover of: El Año litúrgico predicado por Benedicto XVI. Ciclo B

    My Reading Lists:

    Create a new list

  • Cover of: Heroic virtue: : a portion of the treatise of Benedict XIV on the beatification and canonization of the servants of God.

    My Reading Lists:

    Create a new list

  • Cover of: Jesus of Nazareth
    First published in 2007 6 editions

    My Reading Lists:

    Create a new list

  • Cover of: The Fathers of the church: from Clement of Rome to Augustine of Hippo

    My Reading Lists:

    Create a new list

  • Cover of: Faith and the future
    First published in 1970 4 editions

    My Reading Lists:

    Create a new list

  • Cover of: The Fathers
    First published in 2008 4 editions

    My Reading Lists:

    Create a new list

  • Cover of: Eschatology, death and eternal life

    My Reading Lists:

    Create a new list

  • Cover of: Church, ecumenism, and politics: new essays in ecclesiology

    My Reading Lists:

    Create a new list

  • Cover of: Jesus of Nazareth: From the Baptism in the Jordan to the Transfiguration

    My Reading Lists:

    Create a new list

  • Cover of: Encyclical letter Deus caritas est of the Supreme Pontiff Benedict XVI to the bishops, priests and deacons, men and women religious and all the lay faithful on Christian love.

    My Reading Lists:

    Create a new list

  • Cover of: Introduction to Christianity

    My Reading Lists:

    Create a new list

  • Cover of: Casus conscientiae Bononiensis dioecesis presbyteris.

    My Reading Lists:

    Create a new list

  • Cover of: Opera omnia.
    First published in 1767 3 editions

    My Reading Lists:

    Create a new list

  • Cover of: Jesús de Nazaret

    My Reading Lists:

    Create a new list

  • Cover of: Enseñanzas al pueblo de Dios. I: Año 2005

    My Reading Lists:

    Create a new list

  • Cover of: Credo for today: what Christians believe

    My Reading Lists:

    Create a new list

  • Cover of: The apostles: the origins of the church and their co-workers

    My Reading Lists:

    Create a new list

  • Cover of: Christian brotherhood
    First published in 1966 3 editions

    My Reading Lists:

    Create a new list

  • Cover of: Let God's light shine forth: the spiritual vision of Pope Benedict XVI

    My Reading Lists:

    Create a new list

pope of the Catholic Church from 2005 to 2013 (1927–2022)

Born 1927
Died 31 December 2022

ID Numbers

Links outside Open Library

Alternative names

History

Download catalog record: RDF / JSON
January 14, 2025 Edited by Tom Morris merge authors
January 14, 2025 Edited by Tom Morris merge authors
January 14, 2025 Edited by Tom Morris merge authors
January 19, 2023 Edited by kolakowj7580 Corrected date of death
April 29, 2008 Created by an anonymous user initial import