The Pope's new tabloid encourages you to live your best life
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Pope Francis is such a huge celebrity in Italy that he's getting his own tabloid. Called Il Mio Papa, which translates to My Pope, the 68-page glossy hit newsstands today and closely resembles every other celebrity-centric magazine, with splashy photos, news tidbits, and even a pullout centerfold for teens to hang up on their bedroom walls.
Editor-in-Chief Aldo Vitali described Il Mio Papa as a "sort of fanzine, but of course it can't be like something you'd do for One Direction." He added that it's neither lowbrow nor disrespectful to the Pope. Think of it as a mix between Oprah's O magazine and Newsweek.
"It's not a cult of personality — we want to use the pope as an example" for living a better life, Vitali told The New York Times.
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Jordan Valinsky is the lead writer for Speed Reads. Before joining The Week, he wrote for New York Observer's tech blog, Betabeat, and tracked the intersection between popular culture and the internet for The Daily Dot. He graduated with a degree in online journalism from Ohio University.