Pope Benedict's rise to the top and the controversies surrounding his reign

Former Pope Benedict XVI upended centuries of tradition when he retired as head of the Roman Catholic Church.

The German's resignation on 28 February 2013 after nearly eight years as Pope saw him become the first to do so in 600 years.

He died aged 95 on Saturday.

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Benedict succeeded Pope John Paul II, who had been head of the church since 1978, after his election in 2005.

But his deteriorating health had forced the then 85-year-old to "recognise my incapacity to adequately fulfil the ministry entrusted to me".

He continued to have support from some loyalists who believed he had been forced into retirement - but his pontificate will be remembered by others for the "great corruption and dysfunction" which surrounded it.

Born Joseph Aloisius Ratzinger in Bavaria, Germany, in 1927, he was the youngest and third child of a police officer father and a mother who would later manage his household when he was a cardinal.

He was aged five when he was part of a group of children to attend a visit by the Cardinal Archbishop of Munich - a moment which was said to have influenced his decision to become a cardinal himself when he grew older.

During the war, Ratzinger served in the Hitler Youth because membership was compulsory. He was never a member of the Nazi party and his family opposed Adolf Hitler's regime.

Ratzinger left Germany and his post as Archbishop of Munich in 1982 to head the Vatican's doctrinal office, the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith.

Amongst other duties the body deals with what the church considers to be the most serious crimes among its ranks, including clergy accused of sex abuse.

He held the powerful position for more than two decades before he became the first German pope in 1,000 years.

He was elected on 19 April 2005, with one cardinal calling him a "safe pair of hands" to succeed John Paul II.

Pope Benedict championed Christianity's European roots and showed his conservatism by repeatedly stressing family values and opposing abortion, euthanasia, and gay marriage.

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But his eight-year papacy was marked by controversy as Benedict became known for being a weak administrator who admitted a "lack of resolve in governing and decision taking".

He antagonised Muslims by appearing to suggest that Islam was inherently violent.

Benedict also angered Jews by rehabilitating a Holocaust denier and prompted international dismay by saying the use of condoms in the fight against AIDS only worsened the problem.

Then in 2012 the "Vatileaks" scandal rocked his papacy.

Paolo Gabriele, Be