Friday, April 20, 2007

Pope Wins German Popular Support, Sales Of Book Zoom

A survey of Germans issued Thursday showed Pope Benedict XVI has won over 70 per cent of his homeland, where many opinion leaders were initially sceptical about his papacy.

The survey by Forsa pollsters for N-TV television found 50 per cent approving the pope and 20 per cent strongly approving, whereas only 8 per cent said his performance in the two years since his election was below average or bad.

Benedict's new book, published with both his papal name and personal name, Joseph Ratzinger, on the cover, was Germany's top-selling non-fiction title in its first week on sale, separately calculated market figures showed.

A Media Control GfK International survey said the title, Jesus of Nazareth, published Monday on Ratzinger's 80th birthday, had a 43-per-cent market share among the top 25 non-fiction titles at book retailers.

Publishers printed 250,000 copies of the German edition of Jesus of Nazareth, in which the pope says the findings of biblical scholars about the gospels should not obscure Christianity's beliefs about Jesus Christ.

As a cardinal and author of many books in German, Ratzinger frequently faced hostile comment in the secular German media.

His two visits to Germany as pope proved triumphs, attracting large crowds.

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