A comic-strip version of the life of Pope John Paul II written by three Frenchmen has been published in the ailing pontiff's homeland Poland, the book's publisher said on Wednesday.
"When the French suggested we published the comic book in Poland we thought long and hard about it," said Leszek Sosnowski, the head of Cracow-based publishing company Bialy Kruk.
"We were afraid that the life of the pontiff presented in this form could appear trivial," he said, quoted by Polish news agency PAP.
The book, by Louis-Bernard Koch with drawings by Dominique Bar and Guy Lehideux, has already been published in France. Called From Wadowice to Rome it is divided into two sections.
The first, entitled Karol Wojtyla's Vocation describes the pope's childhood in Wadowice, his youth in Krakow, his sporting passions, his period as a priest and his election to pope.
The second section, called Tireless Pilgrim, deals with his foreign visits, his meetings with Roman Catholics throughout the world and the attempt on his life in Rome in May 1981.
"I am delighted by a comic-book version of the pope's life. It is sure to be of interest to many young people who will get a better understanding of the teachings of the Holy Father," said Monsignor Antoni Dlugosz, responsible for relations between young people in Poland and the Catholic church.
Pope John Paul II, 84, who is suffering from Parkinson's disease, plans to visit his native Poland next summer to celebrate a high mass in the capital Warsaw.
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