Fashion Celebrity Pope Speaks of Fright at Election

The Holy Father, it turns out, is not just Christ's Vicar, he's also a fashion celebrity. He sported the fur-rimmed caumaro and mozzetta on his way to give an address the cardinals and curia where he said that his election to the papacy had filled him with "fright."

For those who think the Pope a little vain, in sporting the cap and cape, and have heard the rumours he is wearing Prada and Gucci? Ponder this:

"He wouldn't know Gucci from Smoochi," said Marjorie Weeke, a former official at the Vatican's Social Communications office. She recalled Ratzinger's daily walk across St. Peter's Square from his home just outside the Vatican walls to his office, wearing a black beret, black overcoat and carrying a worn leather briefcase. "He probably donned the cape because it was in the papal closet and would keep him warm on a winter evening," she said of the "mozzetta."