The life of Pope Benedict XVI

Pope Benedict XVI will celebrate his 85th birthday today. Born Joseph Ratzinger in 1927, he succeeded his friend Pope John Paul II as the 265th and current pope, the sovereign of the Vatican City State on May 7, 2005. Joseph Ratzinger is shown here as a German Air Force assistant in 1943.

Joseph Ratzinger, second right, is shown with his family on the day he and his brother Georg, second left, were ordained to priesthood, July 8, 1951; the brothers stand with (left to right) sister Maria, mother Maria, and father Josef.

Joseph Ratzinger celebrates Mass at a mountain site near the Bavarian town of Ruhpolding, Germany in the summer of 1952.

Joseph Ratzinger gives a theology lecture at the University of Freising in Germany during the summer semester in 1955.

Pope Paul VI imposed the traditional biretta to the new cardinal Joseph Ratzinger during a ceremony on June 27, 1977 in the Vatican.

Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger speaks with Andreas Stadtler, captain of the Mountain Riflemen's Company, as he takes his official leave of the Archbishop of Munich and Freising during an official ceremony on Feb. 28, 1982 in Munich, Germany.

Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger during the 1250th anniversary of St. Bonifatius' pilgrimage in Fulda, Germany, June 1994.

Pope John Paul II greets German Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger during a meeting in the Sala Clementina at the Vatican on Feb. 6, 2004.

German Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger casts incense over the coffin of Pope John Paul II during the funeral mass in St. Peter's Square on April 8, 2005, in Vatican City.

Pope Benedict XVI, Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger of Germany, waves from a balcony after he was elected Pope by the conclave of cardinals on April 19, 2005 in Vatican City. The 265th pope leads the world's 1 billion Catholics.

Seminary students cheer as Pope Benedict XVI, Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, speaks from a balcony of St. Peter's Basilica in the Vatican after being elected Pope, April 19, 2005 in Vatican City.

Pope Benedict XVI watches the movie "Karol, un uomo divenuto papa" ("Karol, a man who became Pope"), to remember the late Pope John Paul II at the Vatican on May 19, 2005.

Pope Benedict XVI visits Auschwitz, the former Nazi death camp in Oswiecim, Poland, on May 28, 2006.

Pope Benedict XVI waving to pilgrims on arrival at the Generalitat Palace in Valencia, Spain on July 8, 2006.

Pope Benedict XVI frees a dove upon his arrival at Istanbul's Holy Spirit Cathedral on Dec. 1, 2006. The pope released four white doves, symbols of peace, into the air outside the Cathedral of the Holy Spirit before celebrating the second and final mass of his busy four-day visit to Turkey.

Pope Benedict XVI meets Brazilian bishops in the Sao Paulo Cathedral on May 11, 2007 in Sao Paulo, Brazil. The pope was on a five-day visit to Brazil.

Tens of thousands of people attended Pope Benedict XVI's traditional angelus prayer in Saint Peter Square, on Jan. 19, 2008. The crowd showed its support after the Vatican canceled the pope's visit to a university because of protests by students and faculty.

Pope Benedict XVI prays at the Western Wall, Judaism's holiest prayer site, on May 12, 2009 in Jersusalem. The Pontiff was on an eight-day tour of the Middle East, having already traveled to Jordan.

U.S. President Barack Obama and first lady Michelle Obama exchange gifts with Pope Benedict XVI in his library at the Vatican on July 10, 2009. Obama was meeting with the pope for the first time as president following the G8 summit in L'Aquila, Italy.

Pope Benedict XVI prays inside St Paul's Grotto in Rabat, outside Valletta, Malta, on April 17, 2010.

Pope Benedict XVI chats with Catholic youth outside Westminster Cathedral in central London on Sept. 18, 2010. Pope Benedict apologized to victims of sexual abuse, saying pedophile priests had brought "shame and humiliation" on him and the entire Roman Catholic Church.

Pope Benedict XVI waves to the crowd as he arrives to lead his weekly audience in Saint Peter's Square at the Vatican on March 30, 2011.

Pope Benedict XVI prays in front of the coffin of John Paul II at St. Peter's Basilica on May 1, 2011 at the Vatican. The ceremony marked the beatification and the last stages of the process to elevate Pope John Paul II to sainthood. The ceremony was led by his successor Pope Benedict XVI and attended by tens of thousands of pilgrims alongside heads of state and dignitaries.

People cheer as Pope Benedict XVl arrives to conduct a mass at the Friendship Stadium in Cotonou, Benin, on Nov. 20, 2011. Pope Benedict XVI celebrated Mass at a stadium hosting tens of thousands in the voodoo heartland of Benin, wrapping up a visit that saw him sign off on a grand vision for his church's future in Africa.

Pope Benedict XVI greets a crowd during his visit to the San Giovanni Battista De La Salle in Rome, Italy, on March 4, 2012.

Pope Benedict XVI, flanked by Vatican secretary of state Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone and Italian Premier Mario Monti arrives at Rome Fiumicino International airport to board a plane on his way to a six-day visit to Mexico and Cuba on Friday, March 23, 2012. Pope Benedict XVI used a cane — apparently for the first time in public — for about 100 yards to the foot of the Alitalia plane from the helicopter which flew him from the Vatican to Rome's Leonardo da Vinci airport.

Pope Benedict XVI wearing a sombrero in Leon, Mexico on March 25, 2012. The pope arrived in Mexico promising to "unmask the evil" of drug trafficking in a country that has been ravaged by a surge in gang violence over the past five years.

Pope Benedict XVI meets former Cuban leader Fidel Castro in Havana, Cuba, on March 28, 2012.

Children dressed in traditional Bavarian costumes dance for Pope Benedict XVI during the Pontiff's 85th birthday celebrations in the Clementine Hall on April 16, 2012 in Vatican City. The pope was joined by his brother and German bishops to celebrate the occations.

Pope Benedict XVI posts his first tweet using an iPad tablet after his general audience in Paul VI's Hall at the Vatican on Dec. 12, 2012. "Dear friends, I am pleased to get in touch with you through Twitter. Thank you for your generous response. I bless all of you from my heart," he said on his English-language account. He also tweeted the same in seven other languages.

Pope Benedict XVI arrives to greet the faithful after a mass in St.Peter's Basilica to mark the 900th anniversary of the Order of the Knights of Malta, on Feb. 9, 2013 at the Vatican.

Pope Benedict XVI waves as he leads the Sunday angelus prayer in Saint Peter Square at the Vatican on Feb. 10, 2013.

Pope Benedict XVI, sitting on the throne at left, attends a meeting of cardinals at the Vatican on Feb. 11, 2013. The pope announced that he would resign on Feb. 28, setting the stage for a conclave to elect a new pope before the end of March.