Apparently Pope Benedict (A.K.A. Joseph Ratzinger) — the pontiff known to damn people to hell — has a soft side. He’s letting a kitty cat tell his life story in a new illustrated biography narrated by “Chico the cat”:

In “Joseph and Chico: A Cat Recounts the Life of Pope Benedict XVI,” the orange tabby cat tells readers the pope is “my dearest friend, a wonderful man with whom I’ve spent many happy moments.”

He recounts Benedict’s childhood and his passion for reading and playing the piano. The books depicts the future pope’s early steps in the Catholic Church, from when he entered a seminary in 1939 to his ordination as a priest in 1951.

And get this: according to AP, Chico is a real cat who Mr. Pope befriended back in Germany. Chico truly is his friend, as he makes all sorts of apologies for Joseph:

The 44-page book also touches on the Nazi era, when a teenaged Ratzinger enrolled in the Hitler Youth. “In that period, Joseph was forced to do something that absolutely went against his will: enroll in the Army and leave for war,” it says.

Chico ends the book saying “Now Joseph Ratzinger is not only my friend, but the great friend and leader of all Catholics.”

The book is set to go on sale in Italy, the only place where something like this could possibly sell, on Monday.

Via / Yahoo! News