Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, Prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, was elected as the successor to Pope John Paul II on April 19th 2005.On April 24th, he celebrated the Papal Inauguration Mass in St. Peter’s Square, during which he was invested with the Pallium and the Ring of the Fisherman.
On May 7th he took possession of his Cathedral Church, the Archbasilica of St. John Lateran.
During his Papacy Pope Benedict XVIth has undertaken 24 apostolic journeys abroad. The first was to Cologne in Germany in occasion of the 20th World Youth Day in August 2005. The most recent to Lebanon in September 2012. He has travelled to countries in Europe, Latin America, Africa, Australia, the Middle East, to the USA and has been welcomed as a guest at the United Nations in New York.
He has also undertaken 30 apostolic visits within Italy.
His 1st Encyclical, “Deus Caritas Est”, was release on December 25th 2005. The 2nd, “Spe Salvi” on November 2nd 2007; and the 3rd, “Caritas in Veritate” on June 29th 2009.
As regards the publication of books by Pope Benedict XVIth, he completed his “Jesus of Nazareth” trilogy on the life and teachings of Jesus Christ in November 2012. The second volume of the trilogy is the first book authored by Benedict after his ascension to the papacy, and it was published in 2007
Pope Benedict XVI has written four Post-Synodal Apostolic Exhortations: “Sacramentum Caritatis”, an Exhortation on the Eucharist as the Source and Summit on the Church’s Life and Mission in February 2007; “Verbum Domini”, an Exhortation on the Word of God in the Life and Mission of the Church in September 2010; “Africae Munus” on the Church in Africa in Service to Reconciliation, Justice and Peace in November 2011; “Ecclesia in Medio Oriente” on the Church in the Middle East: Communion and Witness in September 2012.