Ratzinger Confirmed as Vatican Doctrine Chief

VATICAN CITY — Pope John Paul II has confirmed controversial and conservative Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger as head of the Roman Catholic Church’s doctrinal office for a third five-year term, a Vatican spokesman said Monday.

Ratzinger, 64, a soft-spoken German, was first appointed by the Pope in 1981 to head the Vatican’s Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, the department that monitors the purity of Catholic theology and doctrine. Considered the third-most powerful man in the Vatican after the Pope and the secretary of the state, Ratzinger has come under repeated criticism from liberals in church.