Joseph Aloisius Ratzinger, 2008 (digital coloured pencil drawing)

Joseph Aloisius RATZINGER (16 April 1927 - 31 December 2022) Pope emeritus of the Catholic Church; originally from Germany, his pontificate under the name of Benedict XVI lasted from 19 April 2005 to 28 February 2013, having abdicated his office on 11 February 2013. The period of his pontificate was plagued by the discovery of many episodes that put question the integrity of his ministers, most of them sexual but also related to Holocaust denial. During his pontificate he promoted dialogue between monotheistic religious confessions and in particular with the Islamic world, which was historically unprecedented. Portrait, illustration by Dariush Radpour, digital colored pencil drawing, 2008.