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A pond where Pope Benedict XVI likes to pray and feed fish has inspired a new children’s book published by the Vatican yesterday, which his closest aide called a window into the Pope’s soul.
The Mystery of the Little Pond tells the story of a young goldfish and his fondness for “the man in white” who feeds him bread during the summer months when Benedict stays at his summer residence of Castel Gandolfo near Rome.
The pond, which is set in some ancient Roman ruins on the grounds of the palace, also features a statue of the Virgin Mary – described by the goldfish in the book as “a very important woman” when he sees her reflection.
“You can discover the Holy Father’s soul in this pond,” Mgr Georg Gaenswein, the head of the papal household and personal secretary to the nature-loving Pope, said at a presentation of the book near St Peter’s Square.
“The message is between the lines. I recommend parents read this book aloud to their children and they will discover the mystery of the Pope,” he said.
The 24-page book is by Russian-born Natalia Tsarkova, the official portrait artist of the Vatican, who wrote the text and painted the illustrations.
The back cover of the book, which is only available in Italian for the moment, features a photograph of the Pope feeding the fish at the pond.
The book also won endorsements from Antonio Paolucci, director of the Vatican Museums, and Saverio Petrillo, the manager of Castel Gandolfo, who said the peaceful pond had been a place of prayer for several past popes.
Petrillo said John Paul II in particular was fond of the place but not all of Benedict’s predecessors showed the same love for animals as Benedict – Paul VI (1963-1978) had to be persuaded not to eat the frogs from the pond.
Woman busted with cocaine in breasts
Spanish police have caught a woman smuggling more than a kilo of cocaine hidden inside implants in her breasts, officials said yesterday.
The Panamanian woman was caught at Barcelona airport after getting off a flight from Colombia, the national police said in a statement.
The woman “had two breast implants containing cocaine implanted in her. She had two open cuts under each of her breasts,” police said, releasing a photograph of one of the loosely stitched wounds.
“She intended in that way to bring more than a kilogram of the drug into Spain,” the statement added.
Officials questioned the woman as part of standard checks carried out on passengers from Colombia – a major source of cocaine. When they searched her, they found bloody dressings on the wounds.
They took her to hospital where doctors removed the implants and tests showed that they contained 1.3 kilos of cocaine, the police said.
Old Kent Road replaced in Lagos Monopoly
Nigeria’s economic capital Lagos is featured in a newly launched edition of the famous Monopoly board game, with Makoko and Banana Island replacing Old Kent Road and Mayfair.
Local firm Bestman Games launched the version of the Hasbro game geared toward one of Africa’s biggest cities, with a population of some 15 million people.
Lagos’s water-top slum of Makoko, where thousands live in shacks on stilts, is the cheapest property on the board, with the city’s wealthy enclave of Banana Island the most expensive. However, the game’s mascot, depicted on the cover, remains a white man in a top hat.
First Bank of Nigeria, also a partner in the project, announced the launch in a statement. The game is available for purchase at various Lagos stores.
Nigeria is Africa’s most populous nation and largest oil producer. It is viewed as having great economic potential, but has been held back by deeply rooted corruption and mismanagement.
12th birthday on 12/12/12 at 12:12
By the magic of numbers a Norwegian boy celebrated a very special occasion on Wednesday, feting his 12th birthday on December 12, 2012 – 12/12/12 – at 12.12pm, a newspaper reported.
Joergen Svendsen Killi was born on December 12, 2000 at 12.12pm, according to his birth certificate, a picture of which was published on the site of tabloid Verdens Gang, promising him an unforgettable birthday 12 years later.
After yesterday, the next time the same digits will appear in the date, month and year in the same order will be in more than 88 years, on January 1, 2101, or 01/01/01.