VATICAN CITY - The Vatican's publishing house said yesterday that Pope John Paul II's new autobiography was a bestseller in Italy and France less than two weeks after its release.
More than 130,000 copies of the 120 page book, Gift and Mystery - On the 50th Anniversary of My Priesthood, had been sold in Italy, while 80,000 copies had been sold in France since its release on November 15th, the publishing house said.
It said a million copies had been ordered for the book's release in the US on December 11th. In the book, the 76 year old Pope recounts his life in Poland during the second World War, his love for theatre as a young man, and his decision to become a priest at the age of 26.