Rome's glitterati help launch Pope's book

An Italian publishing house gathered together Rome’s glitterati today for the official launch of Pope John Paul II’s new book, hoping the work that includes his first public description of the moments after he was shot can become an international best seller.

Top prelates sat side-by-side with politicians, industrialists and titled nobility for the event in the Palazzo Colonna, which was built by a 15th century Pope.

The Rizzoli publishing house, which holds the worldwide rights, announced that the book, Memory and Identity, would come out in 14 editions in 11 languages over the next few months.

Papal spokesman Joaquin Navarro-Valls confirmed that John Paul’s description of his ride in an ambulance after being shot by a Turkish gunman in 1981 had not been made public before.

John Paul writes that he was fearful and in pain but had ”a strange feeling of confidence” he would live.

The book, a copy of which was obtained last Thursday by The Associated Press in Poland, is based on conversations the Pope had in Polish with his close friends, philosopher Krzysztof Michalski and the late Rev Jozef Tischner in 1993 at the papal summer residence near Rome.

“Someone taped them and transcribed them but it remained unpublished,” Navarro-Valls said.

The book, which examines the damage done by Nazism and communism to Europe in the last century, also makes mention of the September 11, 2001 terror attacks in the United States and other recent atrocities.

It says terrorist networks represent “a constant threat for the life of millions of innocents”.

The book is John Paul’s fifth. His first, Crossing the Threshold of Hope, came out a decade ago and sold 20 million copies.

Royalties from the books go to charity.