You Want Your PopeTV?

No, this is not a doctored photo -- the current German edition of Vanity Fair features Papa Ratzi on its cover, the photo said to have been taken in the garden of Benedict XVI's private home in Pentling during his return to Bavaria last September.

The shot is accompanied by a piece, of course, and from quite the source: Peter Seewald, who renounced atheism for Catholicism after compiling three book-length interviews with the then-Cardinal Ratzinger. You can enjoy the photos, but you'll have to know German to get the story straight from one of His Fluffiness' lay circle.

In other things from behind-the-walls, The Times (of London) notes the recent video (link) of the Pope on his downtime in the Apostolic Palace.

Sure, his secretary handled the remote before the cameras, but the famous blue tracksuits were conspicuous by their absence.

More, and consistently updated, Pope-video at BenedictXVI.tv.


PHOTO: Vanity Fair

-30-