What are some facts about Pope Benedict XVI?

Answer 1

• He eats sausages once every week.
• He is the 265th Pope
• The 15th Pope that was named Benedict. Benedict X does not count. He was an antipope.
• Was elected to be Pope at the age of 78.
• Benedict XVI has a pilot's license, and liked to fly from the Vatican to the papal summer residence, Castel Gandolfo, but he does not have a driver's license as he never learned to drive a car.
• Benedict enjoys playing the piano and listening to the music of Mozart and Bach daily.
• Benedict XVI loves cats, and had two of his own. One was a stray which he found in Rome.
• Benedict still has the stuffed animals his mother made for him when he was a child.
• Benedict XVI's favorite meal is Bavarian potato ravioli with pancake strips.
• Benedict XVI is fluent in German, English, Italian, French, and Spanish and has knowledge of Portuguese. Naturally, he can also speak classical Latin.
• At the age of 16, Josef Ratzinger was drafted into the German army.
• In 1945, during World War II, Josef deserted from the German army and was a U.S. prisoner of war.
• Benedict XVI's sister Maria was his housekeeper until she died at the age of 69.
• Benedict XVI was the youngest of three children whose father, Joseph Sr., was a police officer. His brother, Monsignor Georg Ratzinger, is a retired priest.