Pope Benedict XVI

A brief note on him-

• Born Joseph Ratzinger in Germany, he was an uncompromising theological conservative. 
• He earned the moniker of “God’s Rottweiler” for his disciplining of Latin American priests who promoted “Liberation Theology,” a socialist reading of Christian principles. 
• Ratzinger had risen through the ranks of the Catholic Church, becoming the archbishop of Munich in 1977. 
• In 1982, he left Germany to work directly for the Vatican, leading the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith (CDF). 
• The CDF is one of Vatican’s oldest and most important departments, founded in the 16th century to defend the Catholic Church from heresy and promulgate Roman Catholic doctrine. 
• In 2005, Ratzinger was elected as the first German Pope in a millennium, succeeding the beloved John Paul II, who had reigned for 27 years. 
• Taking the name Benedict, he was considered among Vatican insiders as a “safe pair of hands.”
• However, Benedict’s reign was a far cry from his predecessor. His words antagonised large sections of the world population. 
• For instance, he angered Muslims when he seemed to suggest that Islam is inherently violent. Further, he caused massive outrage when he seemed to suggest that the use of condoms to prevent the transmission of AIDS “only made matters worse.”
• The 2012 “Vatileaks” scandal was crucial in unravelling his papacy. Paolo Gabriele, Benedict’s butler, leaked secret documents that revealed corruption and feuding within the Vatican. 
• In 2013, he became the first pontiff to resign in 600 years on the back of an eight-year tenure filled with scandal and allegations of corruption. 
• While Benedict claimed he resigned due to his worsening health, scandals were piling up in his reign, with observers suggesting his resignation arrived to take heat off the papacy. 
• He was succeeded by Pope Francis, a self-professed liberal, who was put in charge of bringing the Church in line with 21st century society.
• However, Benedict continued to enjoy vehement support from the conservative fringes of the Catholic Church with some ultra-traditionalists even denying to acknowledge Francis as the legitimate pontiff.