What is Pope Benedict's real name?

Answer 1

Answer 1: Pope Benedict XVI was born Joseph Alois Ratzinger in 1927.

Answer 2: Benedict XVI is no longer the Pope. The above answer was made when he was still Pope.

The current Pope is Francis (the first), born Jorge Mario Bergoglio on 17 December 1936. He is is the 266th Pope of the Catholic Church, elected on 13 March 2013 after Pope Benedit XVI announced his resignation on 11 February 2013, which resignation took effect on 28 February 2013. Though of Italian descent, Francis was born in Buenos Aires (in Argentina). He was ordained to the priesthood in 1969, and served as Argentina's Provincial superior of the Society of Jesus from 1973 to 1979; so he was already, then, on a fast track to high rank in the Roman Catholic hierarchy in Argentina. He became the country's Arch Bishop in 1998; then its Cardinal in 2001. He is the first Latin-American Pope.

Benedict XVI was the first Pope to resign since Pope Gregory XII in 1415, and the first to do so on his own initiative since Pope Celestine V in 1294. He now holds the title "Pope Emeritus," and lives in retirement in the newly renovated Mater Ecclesiae monastery at the Vatican.

Answer 2

Catholic Answer
Peter was appointed as leader of the Church when Our Lord said:

And Jesus answering, said to him: Blessed art thou, Simon Bar-Jona: because flesh and blood hath not revealed it to thee, but my Father who is in heaven. And I say to thee: That thou art Peter; and upon this rock I will build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. And I will give to thee the keys of the kingdom of heaven. And whatsoever thou shalt bind upon earth, it shall be bound also in heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt loose upon earth, it shall be loosed also in heaven. (Matthew Chapt. 16.

Peter assumed the position upon the Ascension of Our Lord into heaven. The term 'pope' did not come into usage until many years later but Peter was still considered a pope even though the establishment of the office of pope and hierarchy was yet to come. All the apostles, even Paul, deferred to Peter for important decisions.

One thing needs to be pointed out here. Our Lord and Peter were speaking in Aramaic and not Greek. In Aramaic there was but one word for 'rock' and that is cephas. There is no confusion in usage as in Greek depending upon the size of the 'rock' which is an argument that many non-Catholics seem to ignore. The confusion in vocabulary arose years later when the gospel was translated to Greek.

And, yes, Peter did reside, at least for a time, in Rome and died there under orders from Roman Emperor Nero. Francis A. Sullivan SJ in his book From Apostles to Bishops states unequivocally that Peter was in Rome and died there. His statement is based on both scripture as well as the writings of early Church fathers.

Peter would have assumed leadership about the year AD33 and he died sometime between AD64 and AD67.

Answer 3

Tradition says that Peter was the first pope, and that his real name was Simon, before Jesus called him Peter (the rock, or stone). Catholic tradition says that Saint Peter went to Rome and became the first bishop of Rome, and therefore pope, before appointing his successor.
That tradition is open to some doubt, based on literary evidence and history. The Apostle Paul says that in his time, Peter was one of the three 'pillars' of the church in Jerusalem, although at this stage James seems to have been the leader. The Catholic Church goes to extraordinary lengths to attempt to prove that Peter went to Rome and was executed there, even claiming to have found the actual remains of Saint Peter under the church named Saint Peter's Basilica. Contrary evidence, that Peter ever went to Rome is at least as abundant and more credible.

Acts of the Apostles, written late in the first century, or early in the second, makes no mention of a monarchical leader of the whole Christian church, merely affirming that James, John and Peter led the church in Jerusalem. Writing from Rome just a few decades after Peter was supposedly the first pope, the author of the letter known as 1 Clement speaks in general terms about the suffering and death of Peter, but seems unaware that he was ever in Rome: "There was Peter who by reason of unrighteous jealousy endured not one not one but many labours, and thus having borne his testimony went to his appointed place of glory." So, on the most objective evidence we have, Peter probably never led the church of Rome.

Francis A. Sullivan SJ (From Apostles to Bishops) somewhat unenthusiastically toes the official Catholic line that Peter went to Rome, but says that there is a general agreement among scholars, including Catholic scholars, that the church of Rome was led by a council of presbyters until well into the second century, with no evidence of a ruling bishop. It is hardly plausible that Peter would have become the first bishop of Rome and in due course appointed his successor in that role, but that subsequent Roman Christians chose not to elect or appoint any further bishops for perhaps another century. Pope Anicetus, in the middle of the second century, was the first known bishop of Rome. It was probably Anicetus who created the tradition that Peter went to Rome, thereby promoting his own position.

An attribute of the Catholic pope is considered to be his universal authority. In this regard, the Council of Nicaea in 325 had only recognised the bishop of Rome as having authority in his area, while his peers had authority in other parts of the Roman Empire. Pope Damasus I (366-384) is credited with being the first bishop of Rome to claim specific primacy over the Church as a whole. Whether or not others recognised that authority, he was at least the first bishop of Rome to claim papal primacy, supplanting the decision of the Council of Nicaea. In terms of professed authority, Damasus may have been the first Catholic pope.

For more information on the early popes, please visit:

http://christianity.answers.com/catholicism/a-brief-history-of-the-early-popes

Answer 4

Pope Benedict XVI was named Joseph Aloisius Ratzinger at birth.

Answer 5

Pope Benedict XVI real name is Joseph Alois Ratzinger.

Answer 6

The current pope (2014) is Pope Francis who was born Jorge Mario Bergoglio.