Joseph Aloisius Ratzinger was elected Pope in April 2005. He took the name Benedict XVI after decades of service to the Catholic Church as a theologian, prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, Cardinal and one of St. John’s closest collaborators. Paul II, whom he succeeded to the papacy.
On February 11, 2013, Benedict, then 85 years old, surprised the world with the announcement, in Latin, of his resignation, becoming the first Pope to resign in 600 years.
He said that he took this step because his advanced age and lack of strength made him unsuitable for the Petrine service.
Widely recognized as a leading theologian of the 20th century, Benedict’s pontificate was marked by a deep understanding of the challenges of the Church, in the face of growing ideological aggression and the increasingly secular perspective of the West, inside and outside the Church.