By Susan Brinkmann, OCDS
Staff Writer
Determined to work on his next book during his two-week mountain vacation, Pope Benedict XVI is not letting a broken wrist stop him. He has resorted to using a tape recorder and laptop to get his thoughts on paper.
According to Vatican spokesman Rev. Federico Lombardi, the right-handed pope is getting used to wearing a cast since he fell and broke his wrist on the first night of his vacation in Les Combes, a mountain-top residence overlooking Mont Blanc near Italy’s border with France. However, because he likes to write by hand, the injury is making progress on his next book – the second part of a two-book project on Jesus of Nazareth – very difficult.
“He creates by writing,” Fr. Lombardi told the Italian press, “and he likes to write with a pen.”
Therefore, the pope has resorted to a tape recorder to get things done.
A second option was presented to him on Sunday after praying the Angelus with 9,000 people in the Italian town of Romano Canavese. Franco Bernabe of Telecom and Francesco Forlenza of Olivetti presented him with a laptop that came equipped with a slide slow of papal photographs featuring the visits of Pius XII and John XXIII to the same town.
The pope has yet to use the computer, says Fr. Lombardi. He has “not yet experimented with it, since he is not used to it. He’s not very tech-savvy. He writes in longhand and enjoys writing with his pen.”
The pope has been feeling good and is said to be in high spirits, even adding another event to his limited public schedule, OneNewsNow.com reports. He plans to visit a local clinic to greet the sick on Friday after celebrating Vespers in a cathedral in nearby Aosta. He has also been lifting his casted hand to bless the faithful during all of his public appearances.
The second installment of Jesus of Nazareth will explore the birth of Christ, his crucifixion and resurrection. The first part, published in 2007, focused on the Savior’s life and teachings.
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