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Pope Benedict XVI (far left as a boy) was born in rural Germany in 1927 as Joseph Ratzinger.

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In 1951, he and his brother Georg (left) were ordained as priests in the town of Freising, southern Germany.

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Toward the end of WWII he deserted the German army and, in 1945, was briefly held as a prisoner of war by the Allies.

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An intellectual and scholar, Joseph Ratzinger taught at the University of Tuebingen in the 1960s.

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Joseph Ratzinger (far right) was made Cardinal of Munich in 1977 and became known for his conservative views on religious dogma.

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He is pictured here returning to the town where he went to school, accompanied by his sister Maria (second from left) and the mayor.

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He left for Rome in 1981 to head the Vatican's Congregation of Faith, becoming the guardian of doctrinal orthodoxy.

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A close personal friend of the late Pope John Paul II, he read the homily at the papal funeral.

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A tough theologian and philosopher, the new Pope is expected to defend the Church's traditional values.