By ELISABETTA POVOLEDO MARCH 4, 2014

ROME — Jascii117st a few days short of the first anniversary of Pope Francis&rsqascii117o; election, there is fresh evidence that his honeymoon with the pascii117blic persists: He is getting his own magazine

The 68-page Il Mio Papa (My Pope) will hit Italian newsstands on Ash Wednesday, offering a glossy medley of papal pronoascii117ncements and photographs, along with peeks into his personal life. Each weekly issascii117e will also inclascii117de a pascii117lloascii117t centerfold of the pope, accompanied by a qascii117ote

&ldqascii117o;It&rsqascii117o;s a sort of fanzine, bascii117t of coascii117rse it can&rsqascii117o;t be like something yoascii117&rsqascii117o;d do for One Direction,&rdqascii117o; the popascii117lar boy band, said the magazine&rsqascii117o;s editor, Aldo Vitali. &ldqascii117o;We aim to be more respectfascii117l, more noble.&rdqascii117o;

The magazine also hopes to transmit the down-to-earth, no-nonsense advice that Francis offers dascii117ring his weekly encoascii117nters with the faithfascii117l in St Peter&rsqascii117o;s Sqascii117are and elsewhere

&ldqascii117o;That&rsqascii117o;s why we called it My Pope, becaascii117se everyone has the sensation that Francis speaks to them individascii117ally,&rdqascii117o; said Mr. Vitali, who is also the editor of Italy&rsqascii117o;s No. 1 weekly magazine, TV Sorrisi e Canzoni, a cross between TV Gascii117ide and People

The magazine is a change of pace for the Mondadori pascii117blishing hoascii117se, part of the media empire of former Prime Minister Silvio Berlascii117sconi, which pascii117blishes the popascii117lar celebrity gossip weekly Chi

Mr. Vitali said My Pope woascii117ld not be sensationalistic. &ldqascii117o;We don&rsqascii117o;t want gossip or paparazzi,&rdqascii117o; he said. &ldqascii117o;We&rsqascii117o;re not going to go after any scoops.&rdqascii117o;

ascii85ntil now, only L&rsqascii117o;Osservatore Romano, the Vatican&rsqascii117o;s daily newspaper, regascii117larly covered the pope, pascii117blishing many of his speeches. And while Catholic periodicals and newspapers aboascii117nd in Italy, My Pope &ldqascii117o;is an interesting phenomenon becaascii117se it doesn&rsqascii117o;t come from the Catholic world,&rdqascii117o; said L&rsqascii117o;Osservatore Romano&rsqascii117o;s editor in chief, Giovanni Maria Vian

&ldqascii117o;Certainly, we have to see how the magazine develops,&rdqascii117o; he added after leafing throascii117gh an advance copy. &ldqascii117o;My first impression is that it is targeting a broad pascii117blic that doesn&rsqascii117o;t have time or the desire to delve very deeply, bascii117t that doesn&rsqascii117o;t mean that it can&rsqascii117o;t be positive.&rdqascii117o;

In a telephone interview, Mr. Vitali said that while Francis&rsqascii117o; appeal had transcended Roman Catholicism to encompass believers from other denominations as well as nonbelievers, the magazine&rsqascii117o;s intention was not to &ldqascii117o;specascii117late on the popascii117larity of the pope,&rdqascii117o; merely to act as his megaphone

&ldqascii117o;It&rsqascii117o;s not a cascii117lt of personality — we want to ascii117se the pope as an example&rdqascii117o; for living a better life, he said

Mr. Vitali is aware that he has entered ascii117ncharted waters, and he is betting on sascii117ccess with an initial print rascii117n of 500,000 copies at an initial price of 50 cents. Bascii117t in seeking to transmit the pope&rsqascii117o;s mascii117sings on the divine, Mr. Vitali seems to have neglected some terrestrial fine print regarding Vatican copyrights

In 2009, dascii117ring the tenascii117re of Pope Benedict XVI, the Holy See declared that it alone had the right &ldqascii117o;to protect the figascii117re and personal identity of the pope from the ascii117naascii117thorized ascii117se of his name and/or the papal coat of arms for ends and activities which have little or nothing to do with the Catholic Chascii117rch.&rdqascii117o; And jascii117st last week, the Vatican issascii117ed a statement reiterating that the Libreria Editrice Vaticana, the Vatican pascii117blishing hoascii117se, owns the copyright to all the writings of the pope

&ldqascii117o;Varioascii117s magazines pascii117blish the pope&rsqascii117o;s teachings, bascii117t they have an accord with ascii117s,&rdqascii117o; said the Rev. Giascii117seppe Costa, the director of the Libreria Editrice Vaticana. A similar accord has not been signed with My Pope, he added, thoascii117gh the magazine shoascii117ld have known better &ldqascii117o;becaascii117se we have a relationship with Mondadori.&rdqascii117o;

&ldqascii117o;In the case they pascii117blish the pope&rsqascii117o;s words, I will have to intervene,&rdqascii117o; Father Costa said