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Controversial pope book already selling fast
AFP - Wednesday, November 24
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Controversial pope book already selling fast
VATICAN CITY (AFP) - – A new book in which Pope Benedict XVI talks candidly about issues including sexuality and child abuse hits bookshop shelves on Wednesday and is already selling fast, its publishers say.
Extracts in which the 83-year-old German pope broke a Church taboo and said condoms were acceptable in some cases have whetted the public appetite for the book, "Light of the World", which is being published in 18 languages.
"We've had over 12,000 pre-release orders over the last month and the numbers are about to jump pretty rapidly" said Neil McCaffrey from Ignatius Press, the US publishers of the book.
"The sale numbers are rising fast as we speak: I've already had wholesalers on the phone demanding more copies because they've exhausted their supply."
Booksellers are hoping the tome will have the same success as previous books written by Benedict. In 2007, "Jesus of Nazareth," the first part of biography of Christ, was an immediate bestseller both in Italy and abroad.
After extracts were published at the weekend, interest surged when Benedict's comments that condom use may be justified in the case of male prostitutes were mistranslated in the Italian edition to specify female sex workers.
Key quotes from Pope's new book
The Vatican clarified Tuesday that condoms used in the fight to reduce the risk of HIV was valid for female and transsexual sex workers as well as male prostitutes.
"It makes no difference whether the prostitute is male, female or transsexual: the message is to avoid posing a serious risk to the lives of others," Vatican spokesman Federico Lombardi said.
Until now, the Vatican had prohibited the use of any form of contraception -- other than abstinence -- even as a guard against sexually transmitted disease.
Anti-AIDS campaigners welcomed what they saw as a U-turn by the pope on the use of condoms Sunday, saying it marked a historic break with the past which would save lives.
The book, "Light of the World," is based on 20 hours of interviews with German journalist Peter Seewald and explores the 83-year-old pontiff's views on sexuality, abuse, Islam and female ordination, among other issues.
To illustrate his apparent shift in position, Benedict offered the example of a male prostitute using a condom.
"There may be justified individual cases, for example when a male prostitute uses a condom, where this can be ... a first bit of responsibility, to re-develop the understanding that not everything is permitted and that one may not do everything one wishes," Benedict was quoted as saying in the book.
"But it is not the proper way to deal with the horror of HIV infection."
In the interviews, the pontiff addresses the paedophile clergy scandals in Europe and the US that have pitched the Church into its worst crisis in many years and have clouded Benedict's pontificate.
The pope describes the scale of abuse by clergymen as an "unprecedented shock" for him and he likens the crisis to "a volcano out of which suddenly a tremendous cloud of filth came, darkening and soiling everything.
"It is necessary for the Church to be vigilant, to punish those who have sinned, and above all to exclude them from further access to children."
Hundreds of cases of abuse have been reported across Europe and the United States since he became pope in 2005. Benedict has apologised for the abuse, met with victims and approved stricter rules for dealing with predator priests.
Benedict is also asked during the interviews whether he would consider resigning as pope.
"Yes," he responds, saying that this could happen in cases when "a pope clearly realises that he is no longer physically, psychologically, and spiritually capable of handling the duties of his office."
The author, Seewald, is a former communist who became Catholic after meeting the then cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, with whom he produced two earlier volumes of interviews. The interviews took place in July.
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