Benedict XVI (1927-2022)

Benedict XVI meets with young confirmands at the San Siro stadium in Milan during the 7th World Meeting of Families on June 4, 2012.
Benedict XVI meets with young confirmands at the San Siro stadium in Milan during the 7th World Meeting of Families on June 4, 2012. (photo: World Meeting of Families 2012/CNA)

Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger was elected pope on April 19, 2005, taking the name Benedict XVI. Eight years later, on Feb. 11, 2013, the 85-year-old shocked the world with the announcement that he was resigning from the papacy. For the last 10 years as Pope Emeritus, Benedict has lived a life of prayer and solitude in the Mater Ecclesiae monastery in the Gardens of the Vatican City State. He died Dec. 31, 2022, at age 95.