The Vatican reported Tuesday what it called a "boom" in sales and translations of the first book of poetry written by Pope John Paul II since he assumed the papacy in 1978.
The Roman Triptych, a three-part meditation on nature, life and death by the Polish-born pope, was released a year ago. It has sold 600,000 copies in the original Polish, 30,000 in Italian and 12,000 in German, the Vatican said. Figures for other languages were not available. The Vatican's publishing house, which holds the rights, turns over the proceeds for papal charities, Vatican officials said.
Agreements have been reached for publishing the poetry in 21 languages, most recently in Japanese and Bulgarian, the Vatican said.
The Pope published poems, essays and plays during his decades as a priest, bishop and cardinal.
A collection of poems he wrote before becoming pope was published in Poland in 1980, and the autobiographical works Crossing the Threshold of Hope and Gift and Mystery were published in the 1990s.