Pope Benedict XVI (1927-2022), born Joseph Alois Ratzinger, served as the 265th Pope of the Roman Catholic Church from April 2005 through February 2013. Before his papacy, he was Dean of the College of Cardinals, Prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, and President of the International Theological Commission. An outstanding theologian and teacher, he was one of the founders, along with Hans Urs von Balthasar and Henri de Lubac, of the international Catholic journal Communio. He also enjoyed a distinguished teaching career at such universities as Tübingen and Regensburg in his home country of Germany.
David L. Schindler is provost and dean of the Pontifical John Paul II Institute for Studies on Marriage and Family at the Catholic University of America, Washington, D.C. He is also the editor of Communio: International Catholic Review (Anglo-American edition) and the author of Heart of the World, Center of the Church.