- THE EARLY LIFE of POPE BENEDICT XVI (1927-1951):
JOSEPH ALOIS RATZINGER was born on Saturday, April 16, Holy Saturday, 1927 at Schulstraße 11, at 8:30 in the morning in his parents' home in Marktl am Inn, Bavaria, Germany. He was baptized the same day. He was the third and youngest child of Joseph Ratzinger, Sr., a police officer, and Maria Ratzinger (née Peintner). His mother's family was originally from South Tyrol. Pope BENEDICT's XVI's brother, Georg Ratzinger, a priest and former director of the Regensburger Domspatzen choir, is still alive. His sister, Maria Ratzinger, who never married, managed Cardinal RATZINGER's household until her death in 1991. Their great-uncle was the German politician Georg Ratzinger. The pope's relatives agree that his priestly vocation was apparent from boyhood!
- Click HERE for a MUSIC.WAV file attachment From POPE BENEDICT XVI's German Homeland!
Official Vatican Portrait of Pope Benedict XVI
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