Pope Benedict XVI.

The article chronicles the early years of Pope Benedict XVI. He was born Joseph Ratzinger in 1927 in Marktl am Inn, Bavaria, Germany. The family moved often. His later childhood and adolescence were spent in Traunstein. Ratzinger cultivated his faith and learned piano at an early age. At age 12, he entered the junior seminary in Traunstein in 1939, but the outbreak of World War II interrupted his education. He joined the Hitler Youth, but insists that membership was compulsory. He left the German army soon after being drafted and was captured by U.S. forces. He was ordained in 1951.