Pope Benedikt XVI
(born Joseph Alois Josef Ratzinger on 16 April 1927) is the 265th and current Pope, by virtue of his office of Bishop of Rome, the head of the Catholic church and, as such, Souvereign of the Vatican City State.
He succeeded John Paul II and was elected on 19 April 2005 in a papal conclave, celebrated his Papal Inauguration Mass on 24 April 2005.
A native of Bavaria, Pope Benedikt has both German and Vatican citizenship.