Meow! Catty View of Pope's Life

ROME, Oct. 4, 2007 — -- When Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger was elected pope in April 2005, a slew of more-or-less-instant biographies soon flooded bookstores around the world. The latest one, however, with a prestigious introduction by the pope's personal secretary, is recounted by a cat.

"Joseph and Chico — A Cat Tells the Life Story of Benedict XVI," an illustrated book for children by Jeanne Perego (Edizioni Messaggero, Padova 2007) will be available in Italian bookstores next week and presented at the Frankfurt Book Fair later this month.

"Here, dear children, you will find a biography that is different from others, because it is told by a cat, and it is not everyday that a cat can consider the Holy Father his friend, and sit down to write his life story," writes Georg Ganswein, the pope's personal secretary, in his introduction to the book. "They have known each other for a long time, and the things Chico recounts are really interesting."

In fact, Chico is not just a creature of the fancy of writer Jeanne Perego, but a real cat, which lives next door to the pope's former vacation home in Pentlingen, Germany.

"I wanted to write a children's biography of the new pope as soon as I heard Joseph Ratzinger had been elected," Perego, an Italian writer living near Pentlingen in Bavaria told ABC News. "I needed a narrator — animals are always a favorite — and I thought of Chico, who I had met at Ratzinger's neighbors' house."

"I've come to find you in the pages of this book to tell you the story of my dearest friend, a marvelous man with whom I spent many happy moments," explains Chico the cat at the beginning of the book. "I want him to become your friend, too, not just mine."

The book recounts the story of the pope's life from his birth in Germany to the day of his election as pope on April 19, 2005. Recounted almost as a fable, the account includes good and bad times in the future pope's life, including the Nazi era when Ratzinger was "forced to do something, which was absolutely against his will: join the army and leave for the war. We cats do not make war."