His Holiness Pope Benedict XVI born Joseph Alois Ratzinger on April 16, 1927 is the 265th and reigning Pope of Rome, the Sucessor of St. Peter. He was elected on April 19, 2005 in a papal conclave, celebrated his Papal Inauguration Mass on April 24, 2005. On July 7, 2007, Benedict XVI issued the motu proprio Summorum Pontificum, in force since September 14, 2007, lifting all unjust restrictions upon the use of the 1962 Roman Missal, now called the Extraordinary Form of the Roman Rite.

Benedict XVI is a respected theologian and a prolific bestselling author, a defender of traditional Catholic doctrine and values, and a staunch defender of the Second Vatican Council interpreted in light of Tradition: The Hermeneutic of Continuity and Reform. “There is no ‘pre-’ or ‘post-’ Conciliar Church. There is but one, unique Church that walks the path toward the Lord."