Benedict’s book on Jesus will be published by Doubleday:

Pope Benedict XVI’s next book, Jesus of Nazareth, has been acquired by Random House imprint Doubleday. The first book from Benedict since he became pope, the title is scheduled for publication in spring 2007. Bill Barry, v-p and publisher of Doubleday’s religious division, acquired world English, first serial, audio and exclusive Spanish-language rights in North America from Italian publisher Rizzoli. Started in the summer of 2003, the book is, according to a statement from Doubleday, “the culmination of Pope Benedict’s lifelong quest to defend historical Christianity in the modern world.” Quoting the book’s preface, the statement goes on to summarize the book as “an expression of [Pope Benedict’s] personal search for the face of the Lord.”