VATICAN CITY — Pope Benedict XVI says he hopes his latest book on Jesus — about his infancy — will help bring people closer to Christ.

"Jesus' Infancy" is due in bookstores by Christmas and is the third in Benedict's trilogy on the life of Christ. In excerpts released by publisher Rizzoli on Tuesday, Benedict writes in the forward that his aim is to take what is historically known about Jesus from the Gospels of Mark and Luke and interpret their meaning today.

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He writes: "I hope that this little book, notwithstanding its limits, might help many people in their path toward and with Christ."

The previous two installments, which covered Jesus' early ministry, and then his death and resurrection, blended theology and history while denouncing such contemporary issues as religiously motivated violence.