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It's old hat for the pope
06/09/2006 12:34 - (SA)
Vatican City - Pope Benedict has a thing
for old hats, this time donning a wide-brimmed "saturno" for his
weekly general audience in St Peter's Square on Wednesday.
It was the first time the 79-year-old German pontiff has
worn the red hat, known in Italian as a saturno because it is
vaguely reminiscent of the ringed planet Saturn.
Pope John XXIII, who reigned from 1958 to 1963, used a
saturno and John Paul II, who died last year, wore one
occasionally during trips to hot countries.
It was not the first time Pope Benedict has donned a
strange-looking hat at an outdoor audience to shield himself
against the weather.
Last December, to keep warm against the bitter cold, he wore
a red velvet cap, trimmed with white fur.
That hat, known as a "camauro," was commonly worn by popes
in the medieval period to keep their heads warm on cold days and
it featured on many paintings at the time.
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South Africa
