Pope Benedict XVI

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Pope Benedict XVI – born Joseph Alois Ratzinger on 16th April 1925 in Marktl Am Inn in Bavaria – is the current leader of the Roman Catholic Church. He was elected on the 19th of April 2005, following the death of Pope John Paul II.

Before becoming Pope, Ratzinger had been an academic theologian, and was later Prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith.

As Pope, he has been theologically conservative and traditionalist. He has authored three Papal encyclicals so far: Deus Caritas Est ("God Is Love", a 2005 treatise on Christian love), Spe Salvi ("In Hope We Are Saved"; in 2007, on Christian hope) and Caritas in Veritate ("Charity in Truth"; in 2009, "On Integral Human Development in Charity and Truth").

Benedict XVI has visited the United States, Israel, Palestine, Jordan, Brazil, Poland, Spain, Germany, Austria, France, Malta, Turkey, Cameroon and Angola. He is planning a visit to the United Kingdom in 2010 which has been opposed by the National Secular Society and gay rights campaigners.