Reuters reports that there is an unusual new book out about Pope Benedict XVI that tells his life story. What's unusual about the book is that it is narrated by a cat named Chico. Chico is a real cat who knew the Pope when he was Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger. The book is called Chico and Joseph -- A Cat Recounts the Life of Pope Benedict XVI.
"Dear Children, here you will find a biography that is different to others because it is told by a cat and it is not every day a cat can consider the Holy Father his friend and sit down to write his life story," the Pope's personal secretary, Monsignor Georg Ganswein, says in the foreword.
"Chico and Joseph -- A Cat Recounts the Life of Pope Benedict XVI" is narrated by Chico who took up with the Pope in his native Germany when he was Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger.
The illustrated 44-page book is written by Italian author Jeanne Perego and set mostly in Germany in the years before Benedict was elected in April 2005.
Chico is a real cat who belongs to a German couple in the German city of Pentling, where the Pope lived until he moved to Rome in 1981. The couple are caretakers of the house where Ratzinger had hoped to retire had he not been elected Pope.
Chico tells the story of the life of "my best friend" from his birth in Germany in 1927, through his days as a young man, priest, bishop and cardinal. It ends with his election as Pope on April 19, 2005.
A Telegrapharticle says the Pope is a friend of cats and he used to "feed hordes of strays that congregated outside his apartment" when he was a Cardinal. The news articles suggest the book is out now but we couldn't find any results when we searched for the title on Amazon.com or Amazon.co.uk. It will probably show up there in a week or two - unless it is going to be sold elsewhere.
