Pope Benedict XVI has been the head of the Roman Catholic Church since his predecessor John Paul II died in 2005. His real name is Joseph Ratzinger and he is the eighth German to become pope. Benedict XVI is a well-educated man, speaks many languages and even plays the piano.
Joseph Ratzinger was born in a small town in Bavaria, Germany in 1927. His father was a policeman and his mother a cook. Ratzinger was six years old when the Nazis came to power in 1933. Although his parents were against the Nazi regime Ratzinger had to join the Hitler Youth and in 1943 became a soldier in the Wehrmacht.
After World War II he studied theology and became a priest in 1951. In the 50s and 60s he taught theology at German universities, including Münster and Regensburg. During this period Ratzinger wrote many interesting theological papers.
In 1977 Ratzinger became cardinal and Archbishop of Munich. When John Paul II became pope in 1978 he made Joseph Ratzinger one of his closest advisors. In the two decades that followed he was the head of the Congregation for the Doctrine of Faith, an organization that was responsible for faith and morals in the Catholic world.