Description

Pope Benedict XVI (born Joseph Aloisius Ratzinger; 1927) served as Pope of the Roman Catholic Church from 2005 until his resignation in 2013. Benedict's election occurred in the 2005 papal conclave that followed the death of Pope John Paul II. Since his resignation, Benedict holds the unique title of "Pope Emeritus".

On 11 February 2013, Benedict announced his resignation in a speech in Latin before the cardinals, citing a "lack of strength of mind and body" due to his advanced age. He is the first pope to resign since Pope Gregory XII in 1415, and the first to do so on his own initiative since Pope Celestine V in 1294.

On 7 June 2005, the European Council decided that the common side of the €0.10 to €2 coins should be brought up to date to reflect the enlargement of the EU in 2004. The €0.01, €0.02 and €0.05 coins show Europe in relation to the rest of the world, therefore they remained unchanged. In 2007, the new design was introduced. The design still retains all elements of the original designs but the map of the fifteen states is replaced by one showing the whole of Europe as a continent, without borders, to stress unity.