Fr Michael Collins has an intimate knowledge of Vatican affairs and has met Pope Benedict XVI on several occasions. He is writing a balanced biography of the new pope for those who would like to know him better. The book will describe the former Cardinal Ratzinger in both a human and historical context. Starting with the Pope's early years in Bavaria and his youth during the Second World War, he goes to describe Benedict XVI's academic career, teaching at four state universities.

During the Second Vatican Council Dr Ratzinger was chief theological advisor to Cardinal Josef Frings of Cologne. Following this he returned to teaching and held the chair of dogmatic theology at the University of TŸbingen, a position supported by Hans KŸng. The student riots and unrest of 1968 was to prove a turning point and after this he rejected his earlier liberalism and embraced a more orthodox Catholicism.

He was appointed Archbishop of Munich in 1977. Four years later, he assumed his best-known position as Prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith (formerly the Holy Office). This month, at the age of 78, he began a new career as leader of the Roman Catholic Church throughout the world.

Few people are better qualified to write this biography than Michael Collins. For twenty-five years he has been a frequent visitor to Rome, having worked there for the past seven years. He has an intimate knowledge of the Vatican and Vatican affairs. A graduate of the Pontifical Institute of Christian Archaeology, he taught in Rome for Duquesne University.