Késsinnimek - Roots - RacinesMon Petit Coin by Norm Léveillée
Elected Pope on April 19, 2005
Excerpt from www.cnn.com
The cardinal was born in Marktl Am Inn, but his father, a policeman, moved frequently and the family left when he was 2.
He and his older brother, Georg -- former director of the renowned Regensburger Domspatzen boys choir -- return annually to the peaceful halls of St. Michael's Seminary to stay in the elegant, but sparsely furnished bishop's apartment next to the church.
An accomplished pianist who loves Mozart, Ratzinger enjoys playing the grand piano in the seminary's main hall, and walking through downtown Traunstein greeting people, Frauenlob said.
Traunstein was also where Ratzinger went through the harrowing years of Nazi rule and World War II.
In his memoirs, Ratzinger wrote that he was enrolled in the Nazi youth movement against his will when he was 14 in 1941, when membership was compulsory. He said he was soon let out because of his studies for the priesthood.
Two years later he was drafted into a Nazi anti-aircraft unit as a helper, a common taks for teenage boys too young to be soldiers. A year later he was released, only to be sent to the Austrian-Hungarian border to construct tank barriers.
He deserted the Germany army in May 1945 and returned to Traunstein -- a risky move, since deserters were shot on the spot if caught, or publicly hanged as examples to others.
When he arrived home, U.S. soldiers took him prisoner and held him in a POW camp for several weeks. Upon his release, he re-entered the seminary.
Ratzinger was ordained, along with his brother, in 1951. He then spent several years teaching theology. In 1977, he was appointed bishop of Munich and elevated to cardinal three months later by Pope Paul VI."
Excerpt from :
The Cardinals of the Holy Roman Church
Biographical Dictionary
(1903-2005)
RATZINGER, Joseph (1927- )
Birth. April 16, 1927, Marktl, diocese of Passau, Germany. Besides his native German, he speaks English and Italian.
Education. Superior School of Philosophy, Freising; University of Münich, Münich (doctorate in theology).
Priesthood. Ordained, June 29, 1951, by Cardinal Michael von Faulhaber, archbishop of Münich und Freising. Further studies, 1951-1952. Faculty member, Superior School of Philosophy and Theology, Freising, 1952-1959; University of Bonn, 1959-1963; University of Münster, 1963-1969; University of Tübingen, 1966-1969; University of Ratisbon, 1969-1977; vice-president, University of Ratisbon, 1969-1977, expert, II Vatican Council, 1962-1965. Member, International Theological Commission, Vatican City, 1969-1977."
Bibliography. Allen, John L. Cardinal Ratzinger : the Vatican's enforcer of the faith. New York : Continuum, 2000; Ratzinger, Joseph. Milestones. Memoirs: 1927-1977. San Francisco: Ignatius Press, 1998."
http://www.fiu.edu/~mirandas/bios-r.htm
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