Photography
Pope Benedict XVI, who died on Dec. 31 at the age of 95, spent less than eight years as the head of the Catholic Church. But he still managed to leave a complex legacy on the 2,000-year-old institution.
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Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger was chosen to succeed Pope John Paul II in 2005 — a selection many observers at the time saw as an affirmation of rigid religious orthodoxy.
But in 2013, Pope Benedict did something radical: He became the first pontiff in 600 years to step down, citing ill health. The resignation opened the way for his more liberal successor, Pope Francis.
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Pope Benedict XVI — then Joseph Ratzinger — is shown in the second row, third from left, with his third-grade classmates at Aschau am Inn elementary school in Germany in 1935.
Winfried Ess/DPA/AP
Winfried Ess/DPA/AP
Benedict and his classmates were drafted into the German antiaircraft corps in 1943. Here, he is shown as a German Air Force assistant during World War II. Because of a badly infected finger, he never had to fire a gun.
AFP/GETTY IMAGES
AFP/GETTY IMAGES
Benedict was born in Germany’s Bavaria in 1927 and was drawn to the church early in life. His family opposed Nazi rule, but the young Benedict was soon conscripted into the Hitler Youth and then the German antiaircraft corps.
He deserted his unit and was briefly held by U.S. troops in an internment camp. Once released, he entered Saint Michael Seminary in 1945 along with his brother. Both were ordained six years later.
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Benedict, right, and his brother, Georg, together joined the seminary after the end of World War II. Here, the brothers are shown after their ordination to the priesthood in Freising, Germany, in 1951.
Archdiocese of Munich and Freising/DPA/AP
Archdiocese of Munich and Freising/DPA/AP
An undated photo of Benedict's family in Freising, north of Munich. From left, his sister, Maria; his brother, Georg; his mother, Maria; Benedict; and his father, Joseph.
German Catholic News Agency KNA/Getty Images
German Catholic News Agency KNA/Getty Images
Benedict, then Father Joseph Ratzinger, celebrates an open-air Mass in Ruhpolding, Germany, in 1952, soon after he was ordained into the priesthood.
DPA/AP
DPA/AP
Benedict established himself as an academic theologian, working at several German universities. But he also rose rapidly through the church and was appointed archbishop of Munich and Freising in 1971, and was made a cardinal by Pope Paul VI in 1977.
DPA/AP
Benedict greets hundreds upon his arrival in the Bavarian capital on May 23, 1977, after being appointed archbishop of Munich and Freising.
Dieter Endlicher/AP
Dieter Endlicher/AP
Pope Paul VI places a ring on the finger of Benedict upon his elevation to cardinal at St. Peter's in Vatican City in 1977.
AP/Pool
AP/Pool
Before Benedict moved permanently to Rome in 1981, he is shown here attending Mass with Mother Teresa in Freiburg in 1978.
German Catholic News Agency KNA/AP
German Catholic News Agency KNA/AP
Benedict with Pope John Paul II at the Vatican in 1978. The charismatic John Paul was a mentor to Benedict and led the church for 26 years.
AP
AP
Benedict quickly became an important figure within the Catholic Church, moving to Rome in 1981 and remaining there afterward. He pushed a traditional view of Catholicism, rejecting the increasing secularization seen across Europe and North America.
AP
One of the leading Catholic theologians of his time, Benedict was the longtime head of the Vatican’s powerful Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith and a vastly influential cleric forging church policy.
AP
Benedict, seen in 1985, was the longtime head of the Vatican’s powerful Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith and a vastly influential cleric forging church policy.
BRUNO MOSCONI/AP
BRUNO MOSCONI/AP
As the head of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith in 2000, Benedict attends a news conference with Monsignor Tarcisio Bertone at the Vatican.
MARCO RAVAGLI/AP
MARCO RAVAGLI/AP
Pope John Paul II, a mentor to Benedict, died in 2005 at the age of 84 after a long battle with Parkinson’s disease. The charismatic leader had led the church for more than 26 years, making it the Roman Catholic Church’s third-longest papacy.
MARCO RAVAGLI/AP
Benedict later told pilgrims that he had no interest in taking the position himself and that he hoped instead to live out his final days in peace. But when the 115 cardinal electors gathered behind closed doors at the Vatican’s Sistine Chapel, he emerged as the favorite.
He officially became Pope Benedict XVI on April 19, 2005, two weeks after the death of John Paul.
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Benedict blesses the coffin of Pope John during his funeral in St. Peter’s Square in Vatican City on April 8, 2005.
AFP/GETTY IMAGES
AFP/GETTY IMAGES
Benedict waves from a balcony of St. Peter's Basilica in the Vatican after being elected pope by the conclave of cardinals.
ARTURO MARI/AFP/GETTY IMAGES
ARTURO MARI/AFP/GETTY IMAGES
Benedict celebrates a mass in St. Peter's Basilica at the Vatican for members of the Italian armed forces in 2005.
PATRICK HERTZOG/AFP/Getty Images
PATRICK HERTZOG/AFP/Getty Images
At 78 years old, Benedict was the oldest pope to be elected since 1730. To his supporters, he was viewed as an intellectual champion of the conservative theology espoused by John Paul II.
PATRICK HERTZOG/AFP/Getty Images
However, his stance on issues like divorce, women in the church and same-sex marriage, as well as the alleged mishandling of child-abuse scandals in the church, meant he was a controversial leader.
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Benedict arrives for a prayer at the death wall in the courtyard of Bloc 11 during a visit to the Auschwitz death camp in Oswiecim in 2006.
ALBERTO PIZZOLI/AFP/GETTY IMAGES
ALBERTO PIZZOLI/AFP/GETTY IMAGES
Benedict is shown walking with President George W. Bush at the White House in 2008 during a six-day visit to the United States.
Gerald Herbert/AP
Gerald Herbert/AP
Benedict and his brother, Bishop Georg Ratzinger, walk through the garden of Benedict's holiday residence in Brixen, Italy, in 2008.
OSSERVATORE ROMANO/AFP/Getty Images
OSSERVATORE ROMANO/AFP/Getty Images
President Barack Obama and first lady Michelle Obama exchange gifts with Benedict at the Vatican in 2009.
Chris Helgren/Pool/AP
Chris Helgren/Pool/AP
Benedict, wearing a sombrero, waves from the popemobile as he arrives to celebrate mass near Silao, Mexico, in 2012.
Eduardo Verdugo/AP
Eduardo Verdugo/AP
Benedict enters a darkened St. Peter's Basilica to begin an Easter vigil service in 2012.
Pier Paolo Cito/AP
Pier Paolo Cito/AP
Benedict is shown his first Twitter message, using the handle @pontifex, at the Vatican in 2012.
VINCENZO PINTO/AFP/Getty Images
VINCENZO PINTO/AFP/Getty Images
But in 2013, after multiple scandals, Benedict bucked his lifelong conservatism and upended the rules for modern popes. He announced that he would retire from office, in the first papal abdication since Gregory XII in 1415.
At 85, Benedict cited the failing strength in his “mind and body” as motivation for stepping down.
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The resignation of Benedict is featured on the front page of a newspaper in Manila on Feb. 12, 2013.
TED ALJIBE/AFP/Getty Images
TED ALJIBE/AFP/Getty Images
Benedict waves for the last time as head of the Catholic Church, from the window of Castel Gandolfo in Italy on Feb. 28, 2013.
Christopher Furlong/Getty Images
Christopher Furlong/Getty Images
After a papal conclave, the Jesuit Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio was selected as the new pope. The 76-year-old Argentine became Pope Francis, the first pope in over a millennium to hail from outside Europe.
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Francis’s comparatively liberal view of the faith marked a change from Benedict, who continued to wear papal white and use his papal name. On Dec. 28, Francis asked a general audience to pray for Benedict and asked God to console and sustain his predecessor “until the end.”
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Benedict is greeted by his successor, Pope Francis, as he arrives at St. Peter's Basilica in 2014.
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Franco Origlia/Getty Images
Francis greets Benedict during a meeting with newly named cardinals at the Vatican's Mater Ecclesiae Monastery in August.
Vatican Pool/Getty Images
Vatican Pool/Getty Images
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