On The Way
April 16, 1927
Joseph Alois Ratzinger is born in the town of Marktl am Inn in Bavaria, Germany.
1939
Enters the seminary at age 12.
1941
Joins the Hitler Youth when membership becomes compulsory.
1943
Drafted into the German military and assigned to an anti-aircraft gun crew. He deserts before the end of the war and is held briefly by American forces as a POW.
1951
Joseph and his brother, Georg, ordained into the priesthood.
1953
Earns a doctorate in theology from the University of Munich.
1962
Serves as adviser to the archbishop of Cologne during the Second Vatican Council.
1968
While he is teaching at Tubingen University, student demonstrations prompt the future pope to move toward conservatism, later calling the upheaval "a radical attack on human freedom . . . , a deep threat to all that is human."
1977
Appointed archbishop of Munich and Freising by Pope Paul VI and elevated to cardinal a short time later.
1981
Pope John Paul II appoints him prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, responsible for issues of orthodoxy within the church.
2002
Named dean of the College of Cardinals.
2005
Elected 265th pope. He takes the name Benedict XVI.
This story appears in the May 2, 2005 print edition of U.S. News & World Report.