Pope on Condoms, Fashion & Resignation

Pope Benedict XVI has dominated global headlines since Saturday (Nov. 20) when the Vatican's official newspaper leaked excerpts from a new book in which the pope suggested condoms might sometimes be justified in reducing the spread of HIV/AIDS.

But the condom remarks -- that a male prostitute, for example, is someone whose use of a condom "can be a first step" in the practice of sexual morality -- aren't the only newsworthy bits in The Light of the World, a book-length interview with German journalist Peter Seewald, which hits stores on Wednesday (Nov. 24).

The new book, based on six hours of interviews in July, is also an extraordinarily intimate portrait of a sitting pope. Benedict reveals his sensitivity to criticism, concerns about his health and a striking willingness to admit error -- especially for a religious leader whose
followers consider his dogmatic pronouncements infallible.