ROME - Italian publishing giant Mondadori announced Wednesday it is negotiating worldwide rights for Pope John Paul II's new book, a recollection of his years as bishop in Poland.
The book will come out in Italy on his 84th birthday May 18 - a decade after the publication of John Paul's heavily autobiographical "Crossing the Threshold of Hope," which Mondadori said sold 20 million copies around the world.
"I wouldn't be so sure that the latest book means an end to the pope's writing career," said John Paul's spokesman, Joaquin Navarro-Valls, seated beside Mondadori executives at the book launch at a hotel.
Navarro-Valls described the book as "recollections and reflections" centered on a 20-year period from when Karol Wojtyla became a bishop in 1958 through his election as the first Polish pope in 1978. It includes memories of his clashes with Communist authorities in Poland as well as his meetings with people of all walks of life at the archbishop's palace in Krakow, Navarro-Valls said.
The book was written between March and August 2003. The pope wrote some portions in Polish and dictated others, all in a "style that can be read by the general public, not only bishops," Navarro-Valls said.
The 200-page book is titled "Get Up, Let Us Go," taken from a passage from Mark in the Gospels of Christ speaking to his disciples in the Garden of Gethsemane just before his betrayal and crucifixion.
Mondadori officials said they are negotiating rights for the English, French, German and Spanish versions, and it was not immediately clear exactly when they would come out. There will also be a Polish edition.
The publishing house is part of Premier Silvio Berlusconi's media empire, but Mondadori Vice President Maurzio Costa said he hadn't talked to him about the book.
Completion of the work is the latest literary achievement for the pope, who is pushing ahead with a heavy pace despite Parkinson's disease and knee and hip ailments.
John Paul's book "Gift and Mystery" was also autobiographical in vein, with parts of it talking about his father and his relations with Jews in his homeland.
John Paul also published poems, plays and essays during his days as a priest, bishop, cardinal of Krakow and later as pope. Earlier this month, the Vatican said there was a "boom" in sales and translations of the first book of poetry he wrote since assuming the papacy in 1978. Called the "Roman Triptych," the work is a three-part mediation on nature, life and death. It was released in 2003. Navarro-Valls said the royalties will go into a special fund for charitable use.
Gian Arturo Ferrari, head of Mondadori's book division, said royalties from "Crossing the Threshold of Hope" were given by the pope for building churches in eastern Europe.