Pope Benedict XVI

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Benedict XVI
Latin: Benedictus XVI
motto: Cooperatores Veritatis
Birth name Joseph Alois Ratzinger
Born April 16, 1927
Marktl am Inn, Bavaria, Germany
Died
Papacy from April 19, 2005
Came after Pope John Paul II
Came before

Pope Benedict XVI was born in Marktl am Inn, Bavaria on April 16, 1927 as   Joseph Alois Ratzinger ?. He was elected Pope of the Roman Catholic Church on April 19 2005. He is Pope, Bishop of Rome, head of the Roman Catholic Church, and the Sovereign of Vatican City.

The Coat of Arms of His Holiness.

He is the first German Pope since Adrian VI, who was Pope from 1522 to 1523.

Before he was Pope, he was Dean of the College of Cordinals. He was a close friend of Pope John Paul II.

[edit] Dr Zakir Naik's invitation to pope Benedict XVI for open interfaith dialogue

Muslim scholar Dr Zakir Naik invited Pope Benedict XVI for open interfaith dialogue on 29th September 2006. To see Dr Zakir Naik's dialogue invitation to pope see links [1] and [2]

"I am more than willing to participate in the inter-faith dialogue with Pope Benedict XVI. I am ready on any topic he (the Pope) wishes as long as it focuses on Quran and the Bible," Dr. Naik said. He said he can go to Rome or Vatican to meet the Pope.

"I can go to Rome and to Vatican on my own expense if an Italian visa is arranged for me,"

"I am absolutely ready for an open and public debate with the pope under live international TV coverage," he said.

Let the 1.3 billion Muslims and 2 billion Christians around the world listen to the debate based on equal slot of time allotted to both sides, he said. "It is not only a debate but also a question and answer session allowing the people to ask queries," he said.