African Solidarity
BBC News, Rome
Pope Benedict XVI is to become the first pontiff to feature in his own official calendar.
The Vatican has given its blessing to a 2007 edition which will be published later this month.
The production, called Together - One Year With The Pope, features 14 different images of the Pope at his lakeside residence, Castel Gandolfo.
Some 800,000 copies will go on sale, with part of the proceeds going to a charity in Rwanda.
The Pope has been identified as a fan of finery in the past, wearing red Prada shoes.
Now you will see a new Pope every month, say the advertisements.
The 75-year-old appears dressed in traditional white - but aside from the publicity shot that has been released, the other pictures have been kept under close guard.
The calendar will be sold with the November issue of the weekly Catholic magazine Famiglia Cristiana.
It will cost five euros over the cover price of the magazine.
Part of the proceeds will go to a charity chosen by the Pope in Rwanda. Called Nazareth Town, it is a home run by the Catholic Church for orphaned street children.
It is the second time in a week that the Pope has shown his solidarity with children in Africa.
On Tuesday, he bought into a one-billion-bond issue that will fund life-saving vaccines for children in poor countries.
2 Comments:
How incredibly cool! As much as I love and miss John Paul II, Papa Ratzi is turning out to be just the coolest Pope since sliced bread... or something. Anyway, I can't wait to see the look on my Protestant/atheist relatives' faces when I show off my shiny new Papal calendar at the next family shindig. Ah, what a joy it is to be Catholic!
The African solidarity is wonderful. You do, however, have to smile at the red Prada shoes.
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