Publisher reissues Pope 'biography'

The naming of Jorge Mario Bergoglio as Pope Francis has inspired the enthusiasm not only of many Roman Catholics, but also a publisher planning to relaunch a book about him by his official biographer Sergio Rubin.

The Jesuit. Conversations With Cardinal Jorge Bergoglio will be reissued on Tuesday as The Jesuit. The Story Of Francisco, The Argentine Pope, said Maria Estomba, a spokeswoman for the Spanish publishing house Ediciones B.

Ediciones B now owns Latin American publishing group Vergara, which in 2010 issued the original Spanish-language book.

The book is based on two years of conversations Mr Rubin and a fellow journalist, Francesca Ambroguetti, held with then-Cardinal Bergoglio, but is not strictly a biography, Ms Estomba said.

The publishing house plans to translate the book into several other languages, she said.

In addition to being the subject of this and potentially numerous other books in the future, Bergoglio has authored several of his own, including including Corruption And Sin, On Heaven And Earth, co-written with Rabbi Abraham Skorka. He also edited Dialogues Between John Paul II And Fidel Castro, written by then-Pope John Paul II.