Sunday 22 April 2012

Rome bids farewell to 'pope's crocodile'


ROME — Pope Benedict XVI only knew him for a short time, but the brief encounter was enough to earn a special papal farewell as the esteemed guest prepared to return home — to a swamp in Cuba.
Which would be odd, if the guest in question weren’t a baby crocodile that had a special audience with the pope in January.
A top Vatican cleric presided over a ceremony in Rome’s zoo Wednesday to bid farewell to the baby crocodile, dubbed Il Coccodrillo del Papa (“The Pope’s Crocodile”).
The reptile is being returned to its natural habitat in Cuba later this month — a journey coinciding with the pontiff’s own visit to the island nation scheduled for March 26.
The initiative symbolizes “respect for nature and friendship between nations,” Vatican Substitute for General Affairs Archbishop Giovanni Angelo Becciu said during the ceremony, which also was attended by Cuba’s ambassador to the Holy See, Eduardo Delgado.


Read more: http://www.heraldextra.com/lifestyles/faith-and-values/rome-bids-farewell-to-pope-s-crocodile/article_17294bf4-6f14-11e1-8856-0019bb2963f4.html#ixzz1sfgTZUwh

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