The fisherman gets 30,000 new shoes

BY MARK GREAVES
POPE BENEDICT XVI may need to extend his wardrobe after a visit to Italy's "shoe capital" earned him a gift of 15,001 pairs of shoes. A local consortium at the northern city of Vigevano gave the Pontiff one pair for himself and 15,000 more pairs for the needy around the world.
The Pope was given a pair of elegant red loafers designed and manufactured by the Moreschi firm and made from rare kangaroo hide.
The other 15,000 pairs are more functional, including boots and other types of footwear.
Local industrialists are planning to send them directly to charities chosen by the Vatican.
The Pope's shoes made headlines in the media last year after reports said that some of them were designed and donated by top Italian fashion houses such as Prada, but the Vatican has never confirmed the story.
The Pope's footwear is usually red or burgundy and is called "the fisherman's shoes", in reference to the first pope. St Peter the Apostle, who was a fisherman.
Shoe manufacturing has been such a large part of Vigevano's history that the town has a museum which tells the story of shoe making in the area from small shops in the 16th century through to industrialisation in the 19th century.