WEEKLY EDITORIAL

In his weekly editorial Fr Federico Lombardi reflects on how the Pope is spending his vacation:

“Days ago the Pope began working on the third volume of his great work on Jesus. The manuscript for the second volume, dedicated to the Passion and Resurrection, was handed in for publishing some months ago. Currently we are preparing the translations and editions in different languages, which are expected to arrive in bookstores next spring. Now Benedict XVI has put his hand to the third and last part, devoted to the "Gospel Infancy Narratives".
As the faithful can see for themselves at the Sunday Angelus, after a few days at Castel Gandolfo Benedict XVI already appears refreshed and smiling. He immediately began to devote himself to reading and study, which although demanding, is not tiring. And now - as I mentioned – he has started working towards the completion of his work on Jesus. It is clear that it is particularly important for him to bring this great project, which he first began years ago, to a conclusion. In the Preface to the first volume, the Pope recalled that he started to work "during the summer of 2003”, that he gave final form to the first four chapters in August 2004, and he continues: "After my election as Bishops of Rome, I used all my free time to pursue the book".
Many interventions at the Synod of Bishops on the “Word of God" highlighted the crucial importance of the Pope's book as a model for a theological and spiritual reading of the Gospels, as a guide for believers to meet - through the Gospels - the person of Jesus. As the Pope himself affirms, "the real Jesus, the historical Jesus in the proper sense". Help us to encounter Jesus! We are at the heart of the service of St Peter’s Successor to the Church and men of all time. This is what Benedict XVI has dedicated his "vacation time" to”.