Vatican City - Pope Benedict XVI has completed his first book as pontiff, a work about Jesus Christ that he says is purely personal and not at all infallible, an Italian publishing house said Tuesday.
Announcements by the Vatican and the Rizzoli publishing house said the book "Jesus of Nazareth" will be released in the spring and that Rizzoli will negotiate worldwide sales.
Benedict, a theologian by training, has been a prolific author since his years as a professor in his native Germany.
The book, meant for general Catholic readers, will be the first of two volumes on Christ.
In a preface released by the Italian publisher, Benedict writes that the book is "absolutely not an act" of church authority and teaching but "an expression of my personal research into the 'face of the Lord.'"
"Therefore, everyone is free to contradict me," Benedict said.
Benedict's predecessor Pope John Paul II also was a prolific writer, whose works included the international best-seller "Crossing the Threshold of Hope."