The early life of Pope Benedict XVI concerns the period from his birth in 1927 to his finishing his education and becoming ordained in 1951. Papal Arms of Pope Benedict XVI. The papal tiara was replaced with a bishops mitre, and pallium of the Pope was added beneath the coat of arms. ... Year 1927 (MCMXXVII) was a common year starting on Saturday (link will display full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1951 (MCMLI) was a common year starting on Monday (link will display the full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ...

Background and childhood (1927–1943)

Joseph Alois Ratzinger was born on 16 April, Holy Saturday, 1927 at 11 Schulstrasse, his parents' home in Marktl am Inn, Bavaria and baptised on the same day. He was the third and youngest child of Joseph Ratzinger, Sr., a police officer, and his wife, Maria, whose family were from South Tyrol. His father served in both the Bavarian State Police (Landespolizei) and the German national Regular Police (Ordnungspolizei) before retiring in 1937 to the town of Traunstein. The Sunday Times described the older Ratzinger as "an anti-Nazi whose attempts to rein in Hitler’s Brown Shirts forced the family to move several times." ^[1]. According to the International Herald Tribune, these relocations were directly related to Joseph Ratzinger, Sr.'s continued resistance to Nazism, which resulted in demotions and transfers.^[2] The pope's brother Georg said: "Our father was a bitter enemy of Nazism because he believed it was in conflict with our faith," ^[3]. The family had a sadder encounter with the Nazi regime, because of its euthanasia program for the handicapped. John Allen, Ratzinger's biographer, reports a revelation made by Cardinal Ratzinger at a conference in the Vatican on November 28th 1996: " Ratzinger had a cousin with Down's Syndrome who in 1941 was 14 years old. This cousin was just a few months younger than Ratzinger and was taken away by the Nazi authorities for "therapy." Not long afterwards, the family received word that he was dead, presumably one of the 'undesirables' eliminated during that time."^[4] is the 106th day of the year (107th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Holy Saturday is the day before Easter in the Christian calendar. ... Year 1927 (MCMXXVII) was a common year starting on Saturday (link will display full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... Marktl am Inn Marktl am Inn (Little Market on the Inn River), or simply Marktl, is a village and historic market municipality in the state of Bavaria, Germany, near the Austrian border, in the Altötting district of Upper Bavaria. ... For other uses, see Bavaria (disambiguation). ... Joseph Ratzinger, Sr. ... The Autonomous Province of Bolzano-Bozen[1][2] (Italian: Provincia autonoma di Bolzano; German: Autonome Provinz Bozen; Ladin: Provinzia autonòma de Balsan), also called Alto Adige/Südtirol (Italian: Alto Adige; German: Südtirol; Ladin: Adesc Aut[3][4] or Sudtirol; English: Alto Adige or South Tyrol), is an... Landespolizei is a term used in the Federal Republic of Germany to denote the law enforcement services which patrol the German Bundesländer and is the approximite equivalent to the State police in the United States of America. ... Flag of the Ordnungspolizei The Ordnungspolizei (OrPo) was the name for the regular German police force that existed in Nazi Germany between the years of 1936 and 1945. ... Year 1937 (MCMXXXVII) was a common year starting on Friday (link will display the full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... Traunstein is a town in the south-eastern part of Bavaria, Germany and is the administrative center of a district by the same name. ... The Sunday Times is a Sunday broadsheet newspaper distributed in the United Kingdom and Republic of Ireland, published by Times Newspapers Ltd, a subsidiary of News International which is in turn owned by News Corporation. ... Hitler addressing SA members in the late 1920s The Sturmabteilung (SA, German for Storm Division and is usually translated as stormtroops or stormtroopers) functioned as a paramilitary organisation of the NSDAP – the German Nazi party. ... The International Herald Tribune is a widely read English language international newspaper. ... Reverend Monsignor Georg Ratzinger (born January 15, 1924) is a German Catholic priest and musician, well known as the elder brother of Pope Benedict XVI. Ratzinger was born in Bavaria to Joseph Ratzinger, Sr. ... This poster reads: 60,000 Reichsmarks is what this person suffering from hereditary defects costs the community during his lifetime. ... This poster reads: 60,000 Reichsmarks is what this person suffering from hereditary defects costs the community during his lifetime. ...

His brother, Georg, became a priest as well as a musician and medievalist and is alive in 2008. His sister, Maria Ratzinger, who never married, managed her brother Joseph's household until her death in 1991. Their great uncle Georg Ratzinger was a priest and member of the Reichstag, as the German Parliament was then called. Georg Ratzinger (born April 3, 1844 in Rickering at Deggendorf, died December 3, 1899 in Munich) was a German Catholic priest, political economist, social reformer, author and politician. ... The Reichstag (German for Imperial Diet) was the parliament of the Holy Roman Empire, the North German Confederation, and of Germany until 1945. ...

Marktl am Inn, the house where Benedict XVI was born. The building still stands today.

According to his cousin Erika Kopp, Ratzinger had no desire from childhood to be anything other than a priest. At the age of 15, she says, he announced that he was going to be a bishop, whereupon she playfully remarked, "And why not Pope?" ^[5]. An even earlier incident occurred in 1932, when Michael Cardinal von Faulhaber, the archbishop of Munich, visited the small town in which the Ratzinger family lived, arriving in a black limousine. The future pope, then five years old, was part of a group of children who presented the cardinal with flowers, and later that day Ratzinger announced he wanted to be a cardinal, too. "It wasn't so much the car, since we weren't technically minded," Georg Ratzinger told a reporter from the New York Times. "It was the way the cardinal looked, his bearing, and the garments he was wearing that made such an impression on him."^[6] Download high resolution version (1417x1063, 903 KB) Pope Benedicts house where he was born In Martl am Inn File links The following pages link to this file: Pope Benedict XVI Early life of Pope Benedict XVI ... Download high resolution version (1417x1063, 903 KB) Pope Benedicts house where he was born In Martl am Inn File links The following pages link to this file: Pope Benedict XVI Early life of Pope Benedict XVI ... Memorial stone of von Faulhaber in the Munich Frauenkirche His Eminence Michael Cardinal von Faulhaber (born March 3, 1869 in Klosterheidenfeld, Unterfranken, died June 12, 1952 in Munich) was Roman Catholic Archbishop of Munich for 35 years, from 1917 to his death in 1952. ... In Christianity, an archbishop is an elevated bishop. ... For other uses, see Munich (disambiguation). ... For the song from the band: Brand New, see Limousine (MS Rebridge). ... The New York Times is an internationally known daily newspaper published in New York City and distributed in the United States and many other nations worldwide. ...

Following his 14th birthday in 1941, he joined the Hitler Youth, as membership was legally required in effect beginning March 25, 1939.^[7] According to National Catholic Reporter correspondent and biographer John Allen, Ratzinger was an unenthusiastic member who refused to attend meetings. Ratzinger has mentioned that a Nazi mathematics professor arranged reduced tuition payments for him at seminary. This theoretically required documentation of attendance at Hitler Youth activities (deliberately planned at Sunday mornings at that stage, to prevent church attendance) - however, according to Ratzinger, his professor arranged that the young seminary student did not need to attend those gatherings to receive a scholarship ^[1]. However, there are those who do not accept assertions similar to those made by Allen. As per the 17 April 2005 The Times: "Some locals in Traunstein, like Elizabeth Lohner, 84, whose brother-in-law was sent to Dachau as a conscientious objector, dismiss such suggestions. "It was possible to resist, and those people set an example for others", she said. "The Ratzingers were young and had made a different choice."[8] Other sources, including former Nazis, confirm the refusal of the Ratzinger brothers to attend Nazi youth activities. These sources stressed, however, that the Ratzingers did not actively evade military service after it was forced upon them by party officials. Nazism in history Nazi ideology Nazism and race Outside Germany Related subjects Lists Politics Portal         For the SS division with the nickname Hitlerjugend see; 12th SS Panzer Division Hitlerjugend The Hitler Youth (German:   , abbreviated HJ) was a paramilitary organization of the Nazi Party. ... The National Catholic Reporter (NCR) is an independent weekly newspaper published since 1964 by laypeople, nuns and priests of the Roman Catholic Church in the United States. ... Nazism in history Nazi ideology Nazism and race Outside Germany Related subjects Lists Politics Portal         Nazism or National Socialism (German: Nationalsozialismus), refers primarily to the ideology and practices of the Nazi Party (National Socialist German Workers Party, German: Nationalsozialistische Deutsche Arbeiterpartei or NSDAP) under Adolf Hitler. ... is the 107th day of the year (108th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 2005 (MMV) was a common year starting on Saturday (link displays full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... The Times is a national newspaper published daily in the United Kingdom (and the Kingdom of Great Britain before the United Kingdom existed) since 1788 when it was known as The Daily Universal Register. ... The Nazi swastika The National Socialist German Workers Party (German: Nationalsozialistische Deutsche Arbeiterpartei), better known as the NSDAP or the Nazi Party was a political party that was led to power in Germany by Adolf Hitler in 1933. ...

Military service (1943–1945)

In 1943, when he was 16, Ratzinger was drafted with many of his classmates into the Luftwaffenhelfer programme. They were posted first to Ludwigsfeld, north of Munich, as part of a detachment responsible for guarding a BMW aircraft engine plant. Next they were sent to Unterföhring, northwest of Munich, and briefly to Innsbruck. From Innsbruck their unit went to Gilching to protect the jet fighter base and to attack Allied bombers as they massed to begin their runs towards Munich. At Gilching, Ratzinger served in a telephone communications post.^{[citation needed]} Year 1943 (MCMXLIII) was a common year starting on Friday (the link will display full 1943 calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... Luftwaffenhelfer (commonly: Flakhelfer) are terms commonly used for German students deployed as child soldiers during World War II. The Luftwaffenhelfer (Luftwaffe support personnel) program was the implementation of the Kriegshilfseinsatz der Jugend bei der Luftwaffe (Deployment of the youth to support the war effort with the air force) order issued... Unterföhring is a township in the Upper Bavarian district of Munich and lies on the northeastern edge of the city of Munich. ... For other uses, see Munich (disambiguation). ... Innsbruck is a city in western Austria, and the capital of the federal state of Tyrol. ...

On September 10, 1944, his class was released from the Corps. Returning home, Ratzinger had already received a new draft notice for the Reichsarbeitsdienst. He was posted to the Hungarian border area of Austria which had been annexed by Germany in the Anschluss of 1938. When Hungary was occupied by the Red Army Ratzinger was put to work setting up anti-tank defences in preparation for the expected Red Army offensive. While there, he saw Jews being herded to death camps.^[9] On November 20, 1944 his unit was released from service.^{[citation needed]} is the 253rd day of the year (254th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1944 (MCMXLIV) was a leap year starting on Saturday (link will display full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... The Reichsarbeitsdienst (or RAD, Reich Labour Service) was an Auxiliary formation which provided support for the German Wehrmacht during the Second World War. ... German troops march into Austria on 12 March 1938. ... For other organizations known as the Red Army, see Red Army (disambiguation). ... is the 324th day of the year (325th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1944 (MCMXLIV) was a leap year starting on Saturday (link will display full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ...

Ratzinger again returned home. After three weeks passed, he was drafted into the German army at Munich and assigned to the infantry barracks in the center of Traunstein, the city near which his family lived. After basic infantry training, Ratzinger served at various posts around the city with his unit. They were never sent to the front.^{[citation needed]} Traunstein is a town in the south-eastern part of Bavaria, Germany and is the administrative center of a district by the same name. ...

In late April or early May, days or weeks before the German surrender, Ratzinger deserted. Desertion was widespread during the last weeks of the war, even though punishable by death (executions, frequently extrajudicial, continued to the end); diminished morale and the greatly diminished risk of prosecution from a preoccupied and disorganized German military contributed to the growing wave of soldiers looking toward self-preservation. Ratzinger left the city of Traunstein and headed for his nearby village. "I used a little-known back road hoping to get through unmolested. But, as I walked out of a railroad underpass, two soldiers were standing at their posts, and for a moment the situation was extremely critical for me. Thank God that they, too, had had their fill of war and did not want to become murderers." They used the excuse of his arm being in a sling to let him go home.^{[citation needed]} For other uses of Desertion, see Abandonment. ...

Soon after, two SS members were given shelter at the Ratzinger family house, and they began to make enquiries about the presence there of a young man of military age. They might have reported this to the local Gestapo. Ratzinger's father even made clear to these SS men his ire against Adolf Hitler, but the two disappeared the next day without taking any action against the Ratzinger family. Cardinal Ratzinger later stated, "A special angel seemed to be guarding us."^{[citation needed]} SS or ss or Ss may be: The Schutzstaffel, a Nazi paramilitary force Steamship (SS) (ship prefix) The United States Secret Service A submarine not powered by nuclear energy (SS) (United States Navy designator), see SSN A Soviet/Russian surface-to-surface missile, as listed by NATO reporting name Shortstop... The   (contraction of Geheime Staatspolizei: “secret state police”) was the official secret police of Nazi Germany. ... Hitler redirects here. ... This article is about the supernatural being. ...

When the Americans arrived in the village, "I was identified as a soldier, had to put back on the uniform I had already abandoned, had to raise my hands and join the steadily growing throng of war prisoners whom they were lining up on our meadow. It especially cut my good mother's heart to see her boy and the rest of the defeated army standing there, exposed to an uncertain fate..." Ratzinger was briefly interned in a prisoner of war camp near Ulm and was released on June 19, 1945. He and another young man began to walk the 120 km (75 miles) home but got a lift to Traunstein in a milk truck. The family was reunited when his brother, Georg, returned after being released from a prisoner of war camp in Italy.^{[citation needed]} Prisoner of War camps Contents // Categories: Substubs | Prisons and detention centres ... For other uses, see Ulm (disambiguation). ... is the 170th day of the year (171st in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1945 (MCMXLV) was a common year starting on Monday (link will display the full calendar). ... Traunstein is a town in the south-eastern part of Bavaria, Germany and is the administrative center of a district by the same name. ...

Priestly formation (1946–1951)

Following repatriation in 1945, Ratzinger and his brother entered a Catholic seminary in Freising, and then studied at the Herzogliches Georgianum of the Ludwig-Maximilian University in Munich. According to an interview with Peter Seewald, he and his fellow students were particularly influenced by the works of Gertrud von le Fort, Ernst Wiechert, Fyodor Dostoyevsky, Elisabeth Langgässer, Theodor Steinbüchel, Martin Heidegger and Karl Jaspers. The young Ratzinger saw the last three in particular as a break with the dominance of Neo-Kantianism, with the key work being Steinbüchel's Die Wende des Denkens (The Change in Thinking). By the end of his studies he was drawn more to the active Saint Augustine than to Thomas Aquinas, and among the scholastics he was more interested in Saint Bonaventure. Freising is a city in Bavaria, Germany, capital of the district Freising. ... This article lacks information on the importance of the subject matter. ... Fyodor Dostoevsky. ... Elisabeth Langgässer(February 23, 1899 in Alzey; † July 25, 1950 in Rheinzabern) was a German author and teacher. ... Martin Heidegger (September 26, 1889 – May 26, 1976) (IPA ) was a highly influential German philosopher. ... This article or section does not cite its references or sources. ... It has been suggested that this article or section be merged with Kantianism. ... Augustinus redirects here. ... Aquinas redirects here. ... Saint Bonaventura, John of Fidanza, Franciscan theologian, was born in 1221 at Bagnarea in Tuscany. ...

On June 29, 1951, he and his brother, along with other seminarians from Traunstein seminary, were ordained in Freising by Cardinal Faulhaber of Munich. His dissertation (1953) was on Augustine, entitled "The People and the House of God in Augustine's Doctrine of the Church", and his Habilitationsschrift (a dissertation which serves as qualification for a professorship) was on Bonaventure. It was completed in 1957 and he became a professor of Freising college in 1958. is the 180th day of the year (181st in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1951 (MCMLI) was a common year starting on Monday (link will display the full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... Memorial stone of von Faulhaber in the Munich Frauenkirche His Eminence Michael Cardinal von Faulhaber (born March 3, 1869 in Klosterheidenfeld, Unterfranken, died June 12, 1952 in Munich) was Roman Catholic Archbishop of Munich for 35 years, from 1917 to his death in 1952. ... For other uses, see Munich (disambiguation). ... Year 1953 (MCMLIII) was a common year starting on Thursday (link will display full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... Habilitation is the highest academic qualification a person can achieve by his/her own pursuit in certain European countries. ... Year 1957 (MCMLVII) was a common year starting on Tuesday (link displays the 1957 Gregorian calendar). ... Freising is a city in Bavaria, Germany, capital of the district Freising. ... Jan. ...

References

The New York Times is a daily newspaper published in New York City and distributed internationally. ... Year 2007 (MMVII) was a common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar in the 21st century. ... May 14 is the 134th day of the year (135th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ...

Notes

1. ^  www.timesonline.co.uk April 17, 2005. Papal hopeful is a former Hitler Youth
2. ^  International Herald Tribune April 22, 2005. A boy's dreams lead from a village to the Vatican (reprinted from the New York Times)
3. ^  www.nytimes.com April 21, 2005. A Future Pope Is Recalled: A Lover of Cats and Mozart, Dazzled by Church as a Boy
4. ^  www.nationalcatholic reporter.org October 14, 2005. pooplovebuttAnti-Nazi Prelate Beatified. The conference took place under the auspices of the Pontifical Council for Health Care. At the present date (January 2006) there is no reference to this Conference on its website.
5. ^  theage.com.au April 21, 2005. Cousin recalls boy who dreamed of church life
6. ^  www.historyplace.com Hitler Youth -- Prelude to War. 1933-1938

v • d • e Pope Benedict XVI

Biography · Prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith · 2005 Conclave · Theology · Works · Coat of Arms · Travels · Islam The International Herald Tribune is a widely read English language international newspaper. ... The New York Times is an internationally known daily newspaper published in New York City and distributed in the United States and many other nations worldwide. ... Papal Arms of Pope Benedict XVI. The papal tiara was replaced with a bishops mitre, and pallium of the Pope was added beneath the coat of arms. ... Pope John Paul II with Cardinal Ratzinger in 1978. ... The Papal conclave of 2005 was convened due to the death of Pope John Paul II on April 2, 2005. ... His Holiness Pope Benedict XVI The Theology of Pope Benedict XVI is based on staunch Catholicism and ancient Tradition. ... These are the works written by Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger, elected Pope Benedict XVI: As Joseph Kardinal Ratzinger (original titles) Dialektik der Säkularisierung (En: The Dialectics of Secularization), Freiburg im Breisgau 2005, ISBN 3-451-28869-9 Werte in Zeiten des Umbruchs (En: Values in a Time of Upheaval), Freiburg... Initial rendering of the coat of arms of Pope Benedict XVI The coat of arms of Pope Benedict XVI was designed by then Archbishop Andrea Cordero Lanza di Montezemolo (who later was created a Cardinal) soon after the papal election. ... Pope Benedict has not been as active in visiting other countires as his predecessor, John Paul II was, but has nonetheless made several trips a year to foreign countries. ... Main article: Pope Benedict XVI The Pope strongly condemned the Mohammed cartoons, first published by a Danish newspaper and later in other European papers, saying In the international context we are living at present, the Catholic Church continues convinced that, to foster peace and understanding between peoples and men, it... Dominus Iesus · Deus Caritas Est · Sacramentum Caritatis · Summorum Pontificum · Spe Salvi Dominus Iesus (Latin for Lord Jesus) is a document by Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger, then prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, and the Congregations then secretary, Tarcisio Bertone. ... For other uses, see Deus Caritas Est (disambiguation). ... Sacramentum Caritatis (The Sacrament of Charity) is the first post-synodal (i e, after the synod held in Rome, October 2-23, 2005) apostolic exhortation by Pope Benedict XVI. It was signed February 22, 2007. ... Papal Arms of Pope Benedict XVI. Summorum Pontificum (English: ) is the Apostolic Letter motu proprio data of Pope Benedict XVI, which formulates the canonical rules to be respected in the Latin Rite of the Catholic Church for the celebration of Mass according to the Missal promulgated by John XXIII in... Spe Salvi, Latin for Saved by Hope is an encyclical letter by Pope Benedict XVI promulgated on the 30th November 2007 about the virtue of hope. ...