Go to: Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, elected 265th pope Pope Benedict XVI Once the archbishop of Munich and for many years prefect of the Sacred Congregation for the Doctrine of Faith, Ratzinger, 78, was widely acknowledged as a leading theologian before the College of Cardinals elected him as the successor to John Paul II. Ratzinger served for 20 years as his chief theological adviser. As a young priest he was on the progressive side of theological debates but shifted to the right after the student revolutions of 1968. In the Vatican, he has been the driving force behind crackdowns on liberation theology, religious pluralism, challenges to traditional moral teachings on issues such as homosexuality, and dissent on such issues as women's ordination. The dean of the College of Cardinals since November 2002, he was elevated to cardinal by Pope Paul VI in June 1977.