Papal bestseller

It’s selling like hot cakes. Yes, we're talking about Pope Benedict’s latest book in his Jesus of Nazareth series that has climbed to the No. 5 spot on the New York Times bestseller list in the U.S. Covering the period of Holy Week, from the entrance into Jerusalem to the Resurrection, the pope’s new book has also made the best seller lists of other U.S. publications and has garnered enthusiastic reviews from many sources, both within and outside the Catholic Church.

Father Robert Barron is an acclaimed author, speaker and theologian in the U.S. and is also the founder of Word on Fire Catholic ministries. He wrote a review on the pope’s latest book and spoke to Susy Hodges about why the book is proving so popular among such a wide range of readers.

Father Barron says: Pope Benedict writes in a very lucid and very accessible way, although he's a top-flight scholar, and ... his writing is even poetic at times so I'm not too surprised that people are responding to it." He says in addition to scholars, "average people are reading it (the book) because they find it very inspiring ... and spiritually uplifting."

Father Barron also gives an example of the book's wide appeal by talking about the feedback from a Protestant scholar who said "it's one of the best books on Jesus in the past 50 years and so for a non-Catholic to say that, it's rather impressive."

Asked about the book's lasting contribution, Father Barron says: "Pope Benedict is giving us the whole Jesus... and I believe that's his great contribution and I think he will set theology in a different direction with this book."
Listen to the interview: