In addition, John Paul II co-authored an interview book with Italian journalist Vittorio Messori, "Crossing the Threshold of Hope," which came about after a failed attempt at a television interview.
In 1993, he had agreed to be interviewed for the 15th anniversary of his pontificate, and Messori's interview was to have been broadcast by Italian state television RAI, as well as foreign stations.
However, Messori was skeptical about interviewing the Pope on television, and when he met John Paul II in Castel Gandolfo to agree on the questions for the interview, he told the Holy Father that "we need a Pope, a master who guides us, not a TV pundit. We are not dealing with the crisis of the Church. We are dealing with the crisis of faith."
The Pope did not agree with Messori, but the TV interview was canceled nonetheless. However, John Paul II was so interested in the questions that he later sent Messori his written answers in an envelope through the then-director of the Vatican press office, Joaquin Navarro Valls.
The manuscript was entitled, "Crossing the threshold of hope," which was subsequently chosen as the title of the book that came from it.
More recently, Benedict XVI agreed to answer the questions put to him by seven people on the Italian bishops' conference TV show, "A Sua Immagine."
The show was broadcast April 22, 2011, and the first question was that of a Japanese 7-year-old who had experienced the dramatic earthquake that struck Japan. She asked the Pope why children must be so scared and saddened by such events.
Benedict XVI spontaneously replied that he asked himself the same questions, and that he did not have the answers. The Pope then stressed that "we know that Jesus suffered like you, innocently, and that the true God is on your side."
Benedict then concluded that "even if we have not the proper answers and if sadness endures, it is important to know that God is on your side, and this will certainly help you."
Andrea Gagliarducci is an Italian journalist for Catholic News Agency and Vatican analyst for ACI Stampa. He is a contributor to the National Catholic Register.