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The name Benedict comes from the Latin for "blessing" and the last pope bearing the name, Benedict XV, reigned during World War I.
He is the oldest cardinal to become pontiff in 275 years and the first German for 900 years.
For more than 20 years he was head of the congregation of the Doctrine of the Faith in the Vatican - the Vatican's guardian of orthodoxy.
Pope Benedict XVI has abolished the Vatican's Christmas concert because of his distaste for popular music, it was claimed yesterday, 2nd September 2006.
The current pope prefers Bach to pop
The concert has been held in one of the Vatican's music halls for the past 12 years to raise money to build new churches in Rome.
In the past, Tom Jones, Bryan Adams and Sarah Brightman have sung to crowds of up to 8,000.
However, the La Stampa newspaper reported that the current pope "prefers Mozart and Bach to pop music and so the tradition has been canned. Another piece of [his predecessor] John Paul II's colourful and modern legacy has disappeared."
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