Pope's book to be in stores by Christmas

The final book in Pope Benedict XVI's trilogy about Jesus will be in bookstores by Christmas, the Vatican said Friday. The book, on Jesus' childhood, was completed in August and will be translated into 12 languages from the pope's native German, Vatican officials said. The pope has acknowledged the book should not be regarded as a definitive resource, given the scarcity of biblical sources on Jesus' life before the age of 30. "Anyone is free to contradict me," he said earlier this year. The second in the three-book series was issued in March and was received with acclaim, particularly by Jewish groups that praised the pope's emphatic denial that Jews were responsible for Jesus' death, ANSA reported Friday.