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ENCYCLICAL-BERTONE Mar-10-2008 (210 words) xxxi
Vatican official: Pope's social encyclical not expected before summer
By John Thavis
Catholic News Service
VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- Pope Benedict XVI is still working on his social encyclical, but it probably will not be ready before summer, a top Vatican official said.
"The pope is reflecting and revising, and therefore we cannot predict. But I presume it will not be published before the summer vacation period," Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone, the Vatican secretary of state, said March 9.
Vatican sources said the pope began work on the encyclical last year and that it would treat topics related to Catholic social teaching. His first two encyclicals examined the virtues of love and hope.
Cardinal Bertone, who spoke with the Italian news agency ANSA while visiting Azerbaijan, said the pope was preparing his new text carefully.
"It needs to be written well. The pope is making his reflections and annotations and is checking things rigorously," he said.
"I'm not saying the pope is a true perfectionist, but in a certain sense he is," the cardinal said.
Cardinal Bertone said the encyclical would have to be translated into various languages before it would be released. He said he hoped that, with this encyclical, a Chinese translation would be published immediately with the other main languages.
END
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