New cardinals receive limited-edition copies of compendium from pope

Published: 2007-11-26

VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- The 23 new cardinals went home with numbered, limited-edition copies of the Compendium of the Catechism of the Catholic Church, a gift from Pope Benedict XVI. The new cardinals' Italian version of the 2005 compendium is covered with red silk and bears the gold-embossed seal of the pope. In addition to the 14 works of art Pope John Paul II chose to decorate the original compendium, the cardinals' volumes have another 49 photographs and eight full-color miniatures applied to the pages by hand. Printed on special paper, the edition was published by the Italian art publisher FMR. The 23 volumes given away by the pope are among the 2,950 printed by FMR.

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