Celebrity birthday: Pope Benedict XVI, Iniobong Monday

L-R: Pope Benedict XVI, Iniobong Monday

Today is the birthday of Pope Benedict XVI. He turns 85 today and Thursday will mark the seventh anniversary of his election as pope, the 265th pope in a long line spanning the centuries from St. Peter onward.

Pope Benedict XVI was born in Germany and grew up under war reparations from World War I and as the Nazi regime was gaining power. He was briefly a member of the Hitler Youth in his early teens, after membership became mandatory in 1941. He turned to theological studies after the war, helping found the influential journal Communio. He was elevated to the papacy in 2005.