His Holiness Pope
Benedict XVI

On April 19, 2005, Cardinal Ratzinger was elected as the successor to Pope John Paul II on the second day of the papal conclave after four ballots.

Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, Pope Benedict XVI, was born at Marktl am Inn, Diocese of Passau ( Germany) on 16 April 1927 (Holy Saturday) and was baptised on the same day. His father, a policeman, belonged to an old family of farmers from Lower Bavaria of modest economic resources. His mother was the daughter of artisans from Rimsting on the shore of Lake Chiem, and before marrying she worked as a cook in a number of hotels.

His youthful years were not easy. His faith and the education received at home prepared him for the harsh experience of those years during which the Nazi regime pursued a hostile attitude towards the Catholic Church. The young Joseph saw how some Nazis beat the Parish Priest before the celebration of Mass.

It was precisely during that complex situation that he discovered the beauty and truth of faith in Christ; fundamental for this was his family’s attitude, who always gave a clear witness of goodness and hope, rooted in a convinced attachment to the Church. From 1946 to 1951 he studied philosophy and theology in the Higher School of Philosophy and Theology of Freising and at the University of Munich. He received his priestly ordination on 29 June 1951. On 25 March 1977 Pope Paul VI named him Archbishop of Munich and Freising. On 28 May of the same year he received episcopal ordination. Paul VI made him a Cardinal with the priestly title of "Santa Maria Consolatrice al Tiburtino", during the Consistory of 27 June of the same year.

John Paul II named him Prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith and President of the Pontifical Biblical Commission and of the International Theological Commission on 25 November 1981.

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Pope's Coat of Arms

Most Reverend George Niederauer
Archbishop of San Fransciso

Archbishop George H. Niederauer, was named by Pope Benedict XVI to be the new leader of the Catholic Archdiocese of San Francisco, and was installed as Archbishop of San Francisco on Feb. 15, 2006.

He came from Los Angeles, California where he was born on June 14, 1936. After attending St. Catherine’s Military Academy in Anaheim, he studied at St. Anthony’s High School in Long Beach and graduated in 1954. During his freshman year at Stanford University, he decided to enter St. John’s Seminary in Camarillo, California, from which in 1959 he earned a Bachelor of Philosophy degree.

In 1962, he completed work both on a Bachelor of Sacred Theology degree from the Catholic University of America in Washington, D.C., and a Master of Arts degree in English Literature from Loyola University, Los Angeles. On April 30 of that year, he was ordained a priest for the Archdiocese of Los Angeles.

Father Niederauer’s first priestly assignment was as assistant pastor at Our Lady of the Assumption Parish, Claremont. In 1966, he completed a Doctor of Philosophy degree in English Literature from the University of Southern California, Los Angeles. From 1987-1992, he served as rector of the seminary.

Named a Chaplain to His Holiness, Pope John Paul II, in 1984, with the title Monsignor, and a Prelate of Honor in 1988, Monsignor Niederauer was appointed eighth Bishop of Salt Lake City on November 3, 1994.

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Archbishop's Coat of Arms

Reverend Msgr. Steven Otellini
Pastor of the Church of the Nativity

Msgr. Steven Otellini was born and raised in San Francisco and became interested in the priesthood through the influence of the priests at Holy Name Parish in the City. He was educated at St. Joseph Minor Seminary, at St. Patrick's, and at the North American College in Rome, where he was ordained in 1978 by Cardinal James Knox. His first assignment was at St. Catherine's in Burlingame.

After completing a degree in theology from Gregorian University in Rome, he returned to the Bay Area for an assignment at Marin Catholic High School. The assignment turned out to be brief, because a letter came from the Vatican Secretary of State inviting Msgr. Otellini to return to Rome to prepare for an assignment with the Vatican Diplomatic Corps. Thus, in 1986, after a four-year program in canon law and diplomacy, Msgr. Otellini became assistant to the Vatican nuncio to the Central African Republic, Chad and the Congo.

It was a "very different" experience, Monsignor says, and it gave him the opportunity to see the funds from the Society for the Propagation of the Faith actually put into use, such as at the northern Capuchin mission that not only trained catechists but also taught farming. One project included the building of a bridge, and Msgr. Otellini was asked to officially dedicate it. "That was probably the first and last time I'll ever dedicate a bridge," he says.

After three years in Africa, he was sent to Greece, an assignment which he enjoyed because -- at that time at least -- the relationship between the Catholic and Greek Orthodox Churches was warming up.

Back in the Bay Area in 1991, he spent six years at St. Cecilia's, then another six at Marin Catholic High School where he was most recently president.

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