Few Marktl residents remember pope as baby, but recall later years

Published: 2005-05-04

MARKTL AM INN, Germany (CNS) -- Very few residents of Pope Benedict XVI's home town remember him as a child, but many residents have met him throughout the years. From their parents' tales, the people in Marktl am Inn know the pope's parents, Joseph and Maria Ratzinger, as pious, friendly, attending church frequently and raising their children to be well-mannered. The pope's father was the local police chief. When young Joseph Ratzinger -- Pope Benedict -- was 2, his family left Marktl because his father was transferred. Anna Fischer, 82, the last surviving neighbor of the Ratzingers in Marktl, went to school with the pope's older sister, Maria, whom she described as a quiet, polite girl. After school, they often played together.

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