U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops Launches Website for New Book on Benedict XVI: www.popebenedictbook.com

WASHINGTON, Dec. 1, 2010 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops will launch an extensive new website dedicated to the new book Benedict XVI: Essays and Reflections on His Papacy, which was published this fall by the USCCB in conjunction with Sheed & Ward, an imprint of Rowman & Littlefield Publishers. The site, www.popebenedictbook.com, goes live Wednesday, December 1.

The new website, designed by Mach 1 Media, offers a full-color tour of the new book, with a photo gallery, excerpts from the essays and a selection of the personal reflections featured in the book, and Q&As with several of the contributors. Video clips of Cardinal Sean O'Malley of Boston, Cardinal Francis George of Chicago, and Archbishop Timothy Dolan of New York add lively reflections from three of the book's contributors. Visitors to the site can click to purchase the book from a variety of retailers.

The website gives a sense of the unprecedented look into the first five years of Benedict's reign that one finds in Benedict XVI. The book, edited by Sister Mary Ann Walsh, RSM, features forewords by King Abdullah II of Jordan and President Shimon Peres of Israel, and includes introductory material from Vatican Secretary of State Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone, Cardinal Francis George, OMI, and John Thavis, Rome bureau chief for Catholic News Service. "With brief essays on various themes of this papacy, the book serves as 'Cliff Notes' for understanding Pope Benedict XVI," says Sister Walsh.

The book has been praised by reviewers, including Michael Sean Winters of National Catholic Reporter Online, who called it "a splendid book...brings the human face of our faith, in the person of the Pope, closer to us." Library Journal called the book " beautifully illustrated and skillfully edited work."

Elegantly designed and produced, the book includes more than 100 full-color photographs. Images range from formal public appearances and meetings with leaders and lay Catholics around the globe, to quiet moments of personal study or contemplation.  

SOURCE U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops