Pope's second book on Jesus of Nazareth projected for Lent 2011 release

Vatican publishing house director Msgr. Giuseppe Costa announced to the Vatican Radio that they are aiming to release the second volume of the Jesus of Nazareth in March 2011. The book, written by the Pope on the Paschal mystery, would therefore arrive in time for Lent.

Asked about the second volume during an interview with the Vatican Radio, Msgr. Costa, director of the Vatican's publishing house Libreria Editrice Vaticana, said that they hope for a March 13 release, to mark the first Sunday of Lent.

The timing is excellent as Pope Benedict XVI's book focuses on Jesus' Passion, Death and Resurrection.

He explained that 18 different editors have contracted with the Libreria Editrice Vaticana to publish the edition, with "surely" others to come. By Jan. 15, 2011, he said, editors should all have the text in hand to begin national publication.

The announcement came as another book by the Pope was presented at a conference in Rimini, Italy. The first of Cardinal Ratzinger's complete works, or "opera omnia," was presented by the Bishop of Regensburg, Gerhard Muller, and the director of the International Center of Communion and Liberation, Roberto Fontolan, during a session on the Theology of the Liturgy at the interfaith Rimini Meeting.

As Msgr. Costa told Vatican Radio, the complete works "do not relate to his teachings as Pope, but to “his writings, his teachings, his interviews as a cardinal."