Children's book offers Pope's teachings on Jesus and 'first companions'
A new children's book has been published under Pope Benedict XVI's name. It presents a collection of the Holy Father's descriptions of Jesus' relationship with his "first companions," taken from his catecheses at general audiences over the past five years.
The illustrated book titled "Gli Amici di Gesu" (The Friends of Jesus) was released in spring of 2010. The characters in the book include each of the original 12 apostles, including Judas Iscariot; Matthias, who replaced Judas after the betrayal, and St. Paul.
The 48-page volume produced for the youngest of readers is a "route that takes the reader to the origins of the Church, through the events of the first people who found Jesus and became his friends," according to the publishing house.
Fr. Julian Carron, president of the Fraternity of Communion and Liberation, says in the preface of book that, through the stories, "The Pope takes us by the hand and accompanies us to discover who were the first companions of Christ, how they found him and how they were conquered by him until they decided that they would never abandon him again."
The publisher, he explained, came up with the idea to compile the Pope's descriptions for a young audience after they noticed that references to the apostles during his traditional Wednesday catecheses were also directed to children.
Mr. Murnigotti hoped that English and Spanish versions would be published within the next year.