At 78, Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger was one of the oldest new popes in history when elected.
This war against the progressives was promoted by Benedict when he was still Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger.
He was reported to be the chief rival to Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, who was duly elected and became Pope Benedict XVI.
The episode dates back to 1980 when he was archbishop of Munich and Freising, and known as Joseph Ratzinger.
Years later, the teenage Joseph Ratzinger enrolled in the Hitler Youth movement, a Nazi paramilitary organization with compulsory membership.
He was the pope's right-hand man when the then Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger headed the department that enforces doctrinal orthodoxy.
He will also continue to be known by his papal title of Benedict XVI, rather than reverting to Joseph Ratzinger.
But his decision to resign suggests the radical young Fr Joseph Ratzinger is still there in the old Pope Benedict.
The pontiff, born Joseph Ratzinger, will first go by helicopter to the pope's summer residence in Castel Gandolfo, Lombardi said.
CNN: Vatican: Cardinals could meet sooner to choose new pope
These qualities made him a strong contender for the papacy in 2005, when he was reportedly the chief rival to Joseph Ratzinger.
And as Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, he had said Turkey shouldn't be allowed into the European Union because it's not a Christian nation.
The former Jorge Mario Bergoglio, 76, reportedly got the second-most votes after Joseph Ratzinger, the last pope, in the 2005 papal election.
It was Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, his boss, who under the Vatican's arcane rules had technically lost his job when John Paul died.
Joseph Ratzinger's new conservatism earned him a top job in the Vatican.
The then Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger became Pope after John Paul II's death.
The bad news for those holding smoke-watch vigil was that it took firm favourite Joseph Ratzinger four votes to get elected in 2005.
BBC: Pope conclave: Ponchos and prayers on St Peter's Square
The German pontiff, who was born Joseph Ratzinger, will continue to be known as Benedict XVI, with the new title of "pope emeritus".
The pontiff, whose civil name is Joseph Ratzinger, will, however, be free to write and communicate his views, said chief Vatican spokesman Rev.
While several cardinals had initially tapped Cardinal Bergoglio as a possible successor to John Paul II, a majority coalesced around the then-Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger.
Pope Benedict - the former Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger - was elected to lead the Roman Catholic Church in one of the fastest conclaves in history.
Nevertheless, whether and how the vacuum of power provoked by Joseph Ratzinger's announcement will affect Italy's economic situation is difficult to see at the moment.
Benedict -- born Joseph Ratzinger -- will not be involved in choosing a new pope or in guiding the church after his resignation, Lombardi said.
CNN: Pope Benedict to resign at the end of the month, Vatican says
At Tuesday's book launch in Rome, Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, one of John Paul's closest advisors, says the Pope's forgiveness of his assassin was deeply symbolic.
BBC: ���ҧߧ�ӧݧ֧ߧ�: ����ߧڧ��, 25 ��֧ӧ�ѧݧ� 2005 ��., 15:41 GMT 18:41 MCK
As head of the Vatican office dealing with sex abuses, the then Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger allegedly did not respond to letters from an archbishop on the case.
The meeting comes a month after Pope Benedict XVI, Joseph Ratzinger, 85, became the first pontiff in 600 years to step down voluntarily from the post.
Cardinal Ouellet also has a conservative reputation in Catholic doctrinal issues, a reputation that helped endear Joseph Ratzinger to the cardinals who elected him pope in 2005.
He will keep the papal title Benedict XVI, rather than reverting to the name Joseph Ratzinger, and will be referred to as "his holiness, " said the Rev.
The BBC's Rome correspondent David Willey says the former Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger is a much shier person than his predecessor, and is not at home among huge crowds.
Benedict XVI, who gets to keep his name in rather than reverting to Joseph Ratzinger in his unprecedented position as pope emeritus, meant his choice to be unifying.
CNN: What's in a name? Clues to be found in next pope's moniker
He was runner-up in the 2005 papal conclave, behind then-Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, according to a profile by CNN Vatican analyst John Allen published by the National Catholic Reporter.
应用推荐