Rome (Fides Service) - The Apostolic letter Rosarium Virginis Mariae, written by Pope John Paul Ii for the year of the Rosary, is a best seller for Pauline African publishers. Some 15,000 copies in English and 20,000 in Swahili have been printed and sold, with two editions. Most popular too, the booklet explaining the new Mysteries of the Light for meditating with the Rosary prayer: some 30,000 copies have been distributed. Local Catholic bishops and communities thanked the Pauline Publishers for the speed with which the texts were produced. Very often the nuns go personally to parishes to distribute and present the booklets and lead the faithful in praying the Rosary according to the indications given by the Pope. The widespread diffusion of these texts on the Rosary is all the more surprising considering that of 20 countries in the world with the higher illiteracy rate, 14 are in Africa. SL (Fides Service 25/3/2003 EM lines 14 Words: 168)