Publishing industry warms to Benedict

VATICAN CITY, June 7 (UPI) -- The success of the first volume of Pope Benedict XVI's life of Christ in Italy has a religious publisher eyeing the pontiff's backlist.

"Jesus of Nazareth" was the eighth-best-selling book in Italy last year, The Telegraph reports. Catholics have also snapped up Benedict's two encyclicals, buying 3 million copies of "God Is Love" and "Saved by Hope."

In Britain, the pope shares a publisher with J.K. Rowling, author of the Harry Potter books.

Long before he became pope, Joseph Ratzinger was a prominent theologian and the author of 132 books and articles. Now, the Vatican publishing operation is working with Helder, the biggest European Catholic publishing house, to reprint his early writing.

"There is a rich and extraordinary catalogue and today's readers are looking at it with growing interest," the Rev. Giuseppe Costa, a Vatican official, said. "In the pope there is a strong point of reference, both for religion and culture."

The pope hopes to complete the second volume of "Jesus of Nazareth" this summer, the report said.