This Europe: Poetic return for John Paul II, the Vatican's amateur actor

Pope John Paul II is to publish his first poetic work since becoming Pontiff in 1978, a meditation on religion that will first appear in his former Polish diocese, church officials said yesterday.

As Karol Wojtyla, the Pope published poems, plays and philosophical essays during his time as priest, bishop and cardinal in the southern Polish city of Krakow before he was elected to head the Roman Catholic Church.

The Pope "wishes that the first edition be published in Krakow, like all his previous poetic works", the Rev Pawel Ptasznik, a papal aide, said, describing the book as a "poetic, religious meditation". As bishop in Krakow, the future Pope published poems and essays in Tygodnik Powszechny, Poland's leading Catholic weekly.

The Rev Adam Boniecki, a friend of the Pope and the weekly's editor-in-chief, said he had not yet seen the Pope's new work, but expected it to be "a very personal, philosophical poem, a very intimate spiritual diary", focusing on John Paul's religious experiences.

The Pope, born in Wadowice near Krakow in 1920, acted in theatre performances in high school. In 1938, he enrolled as a student of literature at the Jagiellonian University and moved to Krakow.

During the Second World War, when the Nazis closed the university, Karol Wojtyla became a priest.

John Paul has been active as an author since becoming Pope. During the Nineties, he published the bestselling Crossing the Threshold of Hope and Gift and Mystery, an autobiography tracing his journey from amateur actor to the Vatican. (AP)