Pope souvenirs fly off shelves

  • 11 years ago
It's been little more than one day since the election of a new pontiff but souvenirs of Pope Francis are already flying off the shelves.

(SOUNDBITE) (English) TOURIST ZOLTAN BRIZAR, SAYING:

"We went out yesterday to see the election and speech of the pope. And we liked his humility, his personality, really liked him. We came to purchase some photos of him, we are planning to send the pictures to our parents, in Europe."

Overnight street vendors near Vatican City scrambled to craft memorabilia ranging from prayer cards to boxes of rosaries, even magnets, all donned the new pope's likeness.

(SOUNDBITE) (Italian) SOUVENIR SHOP OWNER ROBERTO CATALDI, SAYING:

"Yes, we've got some rosaries, about a dozen rosaries, and some pictures which show Pope Francis."

Argentine Cardinal Jorge Bergoglio, renowned for his humility was elected on Wednesday. The first South American pontiff chose his name in honour of Francis of Assisi, the twelfth century saint who spu

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