His Holiness Pope Benedict XVI (born April 16, 1927; officially styled Benedictus XVI in Latin), was elected Pope of the Roman Catholic Church on April 19, 2005. He will be formally installed as pontiff during the Mass of Papal Installation on April 24, 2005, though he officially became Pope and Bishop of Rome the moment he accepted his election in the conclave.

Benedict was born Joseph Alois Ratzinger. At the age of 78, he is the oldest pope elected since Pope Clement XII in 1730, and is the first German pontiff since Adrian VI (1522–1523).1 Benedict XVI is the eighth German pope; the first was Gregory V (996–999). The last Benedict, Benedict XV, was an Italian who served as pontiff from 1914 to 1922 and thus reigned during World War I.

He was made a Cardinal by Pope Paul VI in the consistory of June 27, 1977. He was appointed prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith by Pope John Paul II in 1981 and was made a Cardinal Bishop of Title of episcopal see of the Suburbicarian Church of Velletri-Segni on April 5, 1993. In 1998, he was elected Vice-Dean of the College of Cardinals; later, he was elected Dean of the College of Cardinals (with that, also becoming titular bishop of the Suburbicarian Church of Ostia (November 30, 2002)). He was already one of the most influential men in the Vatican and a close associate of the late John Paul II before he became pope. He also presided over the funeral of John Paul II and the 2005 conclave that elected him. During the sede vacante, he was the highest-ranking official in the Roman Catholic Church.

Some see Benedict as a traditionalist; others as conservative or merely orthodox. He accepts the Catholic doctrines which state that intercourse within heterosexual marriage is the only morally acceptable form of human sexual behavior, and that contraception frustrates the intention of the act. He also upholds the traditional Catholic teachings that hold that euthanasia and abortion are intrinsically evil acts. That is his public position, however. In private, he is as sexually prolific as any of the popes during the period known as the "Rule of Harlots," also known as the Pornocracy, which occurred during the early tenth century. Benedict speaks several languages, including German, Spanish, Italian, English, and ecclesiastical Latin as well as the language of love, unless, of course, he is sharply rebuking anyone who disagrees with him and doctrine. He is also fluent in French and is an associate member of the French Académie des sciences morales et politiques since 1992. He is an accomplished pianist with a preference for Mozart and Beethoven. He also likes a little disco when he's on amyl nitrate poppers.