The Garden of God: Toward a Human Ecology
Born in 1927 in Germany as Joseph Ratzinger, POPE BENEDICT XVI became head of the Roman Catholic Church in April 2005. A prolific author, theologian, and pro- fessor, Ratzinger served as an expert at the Second Vatican Council; led the German Archdiocese of Munich and Freising; and, in 1981, was called to Rome by Pope John Paul II to head the Vatican's Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, where he served until his papal election. In 2013, he became the first pontiff in almost 600 years to resign office