joseph and chico

By Flavia Krause-Jackson
Oct. 3 (Bloomberg) -- Chico, Pope Benedict XVI's nine-
year-old ginger Siamese cat, has published a tell-all book for
children about the life of Joseph Ratzinger, from his childhood
in Nazi Germany to his election as supreme pontiff in 2005.
``The story of my friend starts on April 16, 1927 on a
very cold night,'' begins the tongue-in-cheek biography of
Chico's master, told from the point of view of his favorite pet
by German author Jeanne Perego.
``Joseph and Chico'' (Edizione Messaggero Padova) has
papal authorization and includes a foreword by Georg Gaenswein,
Benedict's personal secretary since 2003.
``Here, dear children, you will find a biography very
different to the others because telling the story is a cat --
and it's not every day that a cat can call the Holy Father his
friend and write his story.''
Chico, who confesses to having scratched Benedict's face
one Christmas, tells his readers how he knew the pope was
feline-friendly after spotting a sculpture of a cat in the
garden. If it had been one of a dog ``I would have thought
twice before setting a paw'' there, he says.