vatican tour: pope benedict elected inside the Sistine Chapel

VATICAN TOUR : POPE BENEDICT XVI ELECTED INSIDE THE SISTINE CHAPEL

POPE BENEDICT XVI STARTS HIS PAPACY AT THE AGE OF 78

Pope Benedict XVI (Latin: Benedictus PP. XVI; born April 16, 1927, as Joseph Alois Ratzinger in Marktl am Inn, Bavaria, Germany) is the 265th reigning pope, the head of the Roman Catholic Church and sovereign of Vatican City. He was elected on April 19, 2005, in a papal conclave over which he presided in his capacity as deacon of the College of Cardinals. He celebrated his Papal Inauguration Mass on April 24, 2005, and was enthroned in the Basilica of St. John Lateran (Basilica di San Giovanni in Laterano) on May 7, 2005.

One of the most influential academic theologians since the 1960s and author of many books, he is viewed as conservative and a close friend of his predecessor, Pope John Paul II. He served as teacher at various German universities, Archbishop of Munich and Freising, Prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith and Dean of the College of Cardinals before becoming Pope.

In response to an increasing de-Christianization in many developed countries, where secular humanism, secularism, and secularization are influential, the Pope particularly emphasizes what he sees as the need for Europe to turn back to its fundamental Christian values.

Pope Benedict XVI was elected pope at the age of 78. 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 ninth German pope, the last being the Dutch-German Adrian VI (1522–1523). The last pope named Benedict was Benedict XV, an Italian who reigned during World War I.

Benedict had a distinguished career as a university theologian before being made the archbishop of Munich and Freising; 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 deacon of the college elected pope since Paul IV in 1555 and the first cardinal bishop elected pope since Pius VIII in 1829.

The following day, Wednesday 20 April 2005, Pope Benedict visited the offices of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, where he was very cordially greeted by his former collaborators in that Dicastery. He then went to the papal apartment of the Apostolic Palace, which had remained sealed since the funeral of the former pontiff. During its renovation the Holy Father lives in the Domus Sanctae Marthae.

Before becoming pope, Cardinal Ratzinger presided over the funeral of John Paul II and also over the Mass immediately preceding the 2005 conclave in which he was elected, in which he called on the assembled cardinals to hold fast to the doctrine of the faith. He was the public face of the church in much of the sede vacante period, 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 artificial birth control, abortion, and homosexuality while promoting Catholic social teaching.

Benedict speaks German, Italian and French fluently, and is also proficient in English, Spanish and Latin. He can read ancient Greek and classical Hebrew. He is a member of a large number of academies, such as the French Académie des sciences morales et politiques. He plays the piano and has a preference for Mozart and Beethoven.

He has received numerous "Honoris Causa" Doctorates, in 1984 from the College of St. Thomas in St. Paul, Minnesota; in 1986 from the Catholic University of Lima; in 1987 from the Catholic University of Eichstätt; in 1988 from the Catholic University of Lublin; in 1998 from the University of Navarre; in 1999 from the LUMSA (Libera Università Maria Santissima Assunta) of Rome and in 2000 from the Faculty of Theology of the University of Wroclaw in Poland.