Pope John Paul II poem book a huge hit before official launch

On Thursday, Pope John Paul II, after a break of nearly a quarter of a century imposed by the weight of his duties, published his poem entitled Roman Triptych and showed that he had not lost one of his early passions. The Pope wrote the poetry in longhand in Polish in the quiet of his lakeside summer residence south of Rome, reopening a chapter of his life he had once told a reporter "is closed". The book took Poland by storm, selling 300,000 copies even before it hit the bookstores, where 50,000 sales is considered a very good run. Father Adam Boniecki, a close friend of the pope's and editor-in-chief of Catholic weekly Tygodnik Powszechny, said the public should read a poem like, "The meeting with a man who is about to see God." (Reuters) K.Z.