VATICAN CITY—Pope Benedict XVI has spent much of his eight-year papacy in the shadow of his larger-than-life predecessor John Paul II, only to burst into the limelight with his shock resignation announcement on Monday. But the stark contrasts between the Polish pope—a former stage actor who loved human contact—and the shy and media-averse Benedict belie an identical view of the world. Their conservative positions matured over the more than two decades when Benedict, then Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, was the head of the Vatican body that enforces Catholic Church doctrine. Both grew up under totalitarian regimes, whether Nazi or Stalinist, and...
Keep on reading: The pope and his predecessor: a study in contrasts
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