Pope's first encyclical

The Pope's first encyclical - a booklet adderssed to Catholic priests all over the world - has record sales.

Pope Benedict XVI's first encyclical is being snapped up by buyers across Rome, with booksellers reporting sales of 3,000 copies a day, the ANSA news agency reported Tuesday.

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Sales of the 71-page booklet, available in several languages, have surpassed expectations, Rome's principal religious bookstores say.

Priests, politicians, Catholic associations and religious groups, and even Italy's former Christian Democrat president Francesco Cossiga have been buying up copies in stores across the Italian capital.

Italian priest Gino Belleri, director of the Leoniana bookshop near the Vatican, said Cossiga "decided to get a stock of them to be able to give them to friends."

The Italian edition, on sale for €1.50 ($1.80), is the most popular. The Latin edition went on sale on Tuesday.