Over a million copies of the book in various languages have been sold, the Osservatore Romano said in an editorial which will hit the shelves Thursday. The first 50,000 copies of the Italian edition immediately sold out and all copies of the second edition have been reserved days before it came out, it said. In English, 100,000 copies have been sold, with another 80,000 in French and 200,000 in German. The figures "are an indication of the appetite for answers and reference points of our age", the Vatican paper said. Giovanni Maria Vian, editor of the newspaper, said the success was down to "the pope's open and confident tone and clear language". The book, published in 18 languages, is based on 20 hours of interviews with German journalist Peter Seewald, the author, and explores the pope's views on sexuality, abuse, Islam and female ordination, among other issues. "Light of the World" made the headlines when it went on sale in November last year after it emerged that Benedict had made frank comments about condom use, which he said may be justified in the case of male prostitutes.