11 February 2013 22:00 | By Tom Phillips
Pope Benedict XVI: a life in pictures

1927 - Birth

Pope Benedict XVI - 1927 - Birth (© AP Photo KNA)
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  • Pope Benedict XVI (© REUTERS Andreas Gebert)
  • Pope Benedict XVI - 1927 - Birth (© AP Photo KNA)
  • Pope Benedict XVI - 1941 - World War II and Hitler Youth (© AP Photo KNA)
  • Pope Benedict XVI - 1945 to 1951 - Studying for Preisthood (© AP Photo KNA)
  • Pope Benedict XVI - 1952 onwards - Academic career (© AP Photo KNA)
  • Pope Benedict XVI - 1977 - Archbishop (© AP Photo Dieter Endlicher)
  • Pope Benedict XVI - 1982 - Prefect of the Sacred Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith (© AP Photo Dieter Endlicher)
  • Pope Benedict XVI - 1982 onwards - conservative teachings (© AP Photo Gianni Foggia)
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The man who would become pope was born Joseph Aloisius Ratzinger on April 16, 1927, in the village of Marktl am Inn, in Germany's Bavaria region. The youngest child of Joseph Ratzinger, Sr - a local policeman - and Maria Ratzinger, at the age of five he is said to have become so fascinated with the red robes of a visiting Catholic cardinal that he announced his intention to become a cardinal himself one day.

He is pictured above (far left) with his parents and his older siblings, Georg and Maria.

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