The New Pope

Pope Benedict XVI

On Tuesday 19th April, Benedict XVI was elected pope at the age of 78, and has become the 265th pontiff to be elected. He is the oldest person to have been elected pope since Clement XII in 1730. He served longer as a cardinal before being elected pope than any pope since Benedict XIII (elected 1724). He is the eighth German pope, the last being the Dutch-German Adrian VI (1522–1523). The last Pope Benedict, Benedict XV, was an Italian who served as pope from 1914 to 1922 and reigned during World War I.

Ratzinger was born in Bavaria, Germany. He had a distinguished career as a university theologian before being made the archbishop of Munich; he was subsequently made a cardinal by Pope Paul VI in the consistory of June 27, 1977. He was appointed as the prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith by Pope John Paul II in 1981 and was made the cardinal bishop of the suburbicarian diocese of Velletri-Segni on April 5, 1993. In 1998, he was made the sub-dean of the College of Cardinals; later, on November 30, 2002, he became the dean and simultaneously the cardinal bishop of the suburbicarian diocese of Ostia. He was the first dean of the college elected pope since Paul IV in 1555 and the first cardinal bishop elected pope since Pius VIII in 1829.

Before becoming pope, Cardinal Ratzinger was already one of the most influential men in the Vatican, and was a close associate of the late John Paul II. He presided over the funeral of John Paul II and also over the 2005 conclave in which he was elected. He was the public face of the church in much of the sede vacante, although he ranked below the camerlengo in administrative authority during that time.

Benedict XVI's views appear to be similar to those of his predecessor in maintaining the traditional Catholic doctrines on birth control, abortion, and homosexuality and promoting Catholic social teaching.

Benedict speaks several languages, including German, Spanish, Italian, English and Latin. He is also fluent in French and has been an associate member of the French Académie des sciences morales et politiques since 1992. He recently revealed that he is studying Russian as well. He plays the piano and has a preference for Mozart and Beethoven. He is also known for his fondness for cats.

[For more info on Ratzinger, check out link below]:

http://www.google.tt/search?hl=en&q=new+pope