The Holy Father Pope Benedict XVI

Pope Benedict XVI (Latin: Benedictus PP. XVI, Italian: Benedetto XVI, born Joseph Alois Ratzinger on April 16, 1927 in Marktl am Inn, Bavaria, Germany) is the 265th and reigning Pope of the Roman Catholic Church, and as such, Monarch of the Vatican City State.^[1] He was elected on April 19, 2005 in a papal conclave, celebrated his Papal Inauguration Mass on April 24, 2005, and took possession of his cathedral, the Basilica of St. John Lateran, on May 7, 2005. Pope Benedict XVI has both German and Vatican citizenship. He succeeded Pope John Paul II, who died on April 2, 2005.

One of the best-known theologians since the 1960s and a prolific author, Benedict XVI is viewed as a defender of traditional Catholic doctrine and values and of their importance in the survival of Western civilization. He is considered to be a conservative and a close ally and friend of his predecessor, John Paul II. However, earlier in his career, he was considered a liberal. He served as a professor at various German universities, and was a theological consultant at the Second Vatican Council before becoming Archbishop of Munich and Freising and Cardinal. At the time of his election as Pope, Benedict had been Prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith (curial heads lose their positions upon the death of a pope) and was Dean of the College of Cardinals.

During his papacy, Benedict XVI has emphasized what he sees as a need for Europe to return to fundamental Christian values in response to increasing de-Christianisation and secularisation in many developed countries. For this reason, he has identified relativism's denial of objective truth - and more particularly, the denial of moral truths - as the central problem of the 21st century. He has taught about the importance for the Catholic Church and for humanity of contemplating God's salvific love and has reaffirmed the "importance of prayer in the face of the activism and the growing secularism of many Christians engaged in charitable work."