Pope Benedict XVI Age, Controversies, Family, Biography, Facts & More
Some Lesser Known Facts About Pope Benedict XVI
- In his childhood, he got inspired to become a cardinal after meeting a cardinal in his town and expressed his desire to become a cardinal to his father.
- By the age of twelve, he started studying priesthood.
- Since his childhood, he was very passionate towards music and also learnt piano. He likes classical and folk music; especially of Beethoven, Mozart and Bach.
- Pope spent most of his childhood in ‘Traunstein,’ a town in Bavaria.
- During his youth, he experienced the hostile attitude of the Nazi regime against Catholic Church and saw the cruel incidents of Parish priests’ beating by the Nazis.
- Due to an infected finger, he could not learn to use ammunitions and deserted The German Army in 1945.
- He has authored more than sixty books, and his first book- ”Theological Highlights of Vatican II,” was published in 1966.
- In 2006, Vatican Radio gave him an iPod nano on his 75th birthday. The same year, he visited Auschwitz to pray for the Holocaust victims.
- In 2007, Esquire magazine gave him the title ”Accessorizer of the Year” and chose him ‘Best-Dressed Man of 2013’ in the world.
- On June 9, 2007, he met the US President, George W Bush for the first time and discussed about Muslim relations and AIDS. On October 28, he beatified 498 victims of the Spanish Civil War (the largest mass beatification in history).
- On April 18, 2008, he delivered an important speech to the United Nations General Assembly and addressed the issues like environment, human rights, freedom of conscience and the religious tolerance.
- On April 26, 2009, he gave new names to the saints-Caterina Volpicelli, Nuno Alvares Pereira,Gertrude Comensoli,Rev Arcangelo Tadini and Bernardo Tolomei.
- On August 3, 2009, he signed a record deal with Geffen Records, and on November 23, he released his first album “Alma Mater.”
- On November 21, 2012,”Jesus of Nazareth: The Infancy Narratives” was released, and within minutes, Pope had thousands of followers on his twitter account.
- In November, 2016, his famous creation “Last Testament: In His Own Words,” was released.
- He knows Spanish, Italian, German, French, Latin, English.
- He loves cats and has provided shelter to one found in Rome.
- He is the first Pope having an iPod.
- He expressed his affection and gave blessings to his loving people and showed reverence to the future Pope on February 28, 2013, the last day of his Papacy.