ROME (Reuters) -- Pope Benedict has finished the third volume of his "Jesus of Nazareth" trilogy on the life and teachings of Jesus Christ, the Vatican said on Thursday.

A publication date will be set once the book has been translated into several languages from the original German, the Vatican said in a statement.

It said the third and final volume focuses on Jesus Christ's childhood.

Benedict has devoted considerable time in office to writing the major three-part study.

The first volume appeared in 2007 and looked at events in Jesus' adult life and public ministry.

In the second book, which came out in 2011 and focused on the last week of Jesus' life, the pope condemned violence committed in God's name and personally exonerated Jews of responsibility for Christ's death.