Truemors
The Italian animal rights campaigners are unhappy with Pope Benedict.
Campaigners are trying to appeal to the Pope's cat-loving reputation, urging him to stop wearing ermine on his hats and robes. An online pettition had been set up, and nearly 1900 people had already signed it.
The Italian Association for Defense of Animals and the Environment, which has a white bunny logo, has started an online petition signed by nearly 1,900 people asking the German-born pontiff to stop wearing fur. Corriere della Sera newspaper had photos Benedict and one of his predecessors, Pope John XIII, wearing an ermine-trimmed hat and cape. It put the shots next to a picture of a live stoat.
On the 2005 Christmas, the Pope was seen wearing a Ermine-trimmed hat and cape, which gave him a "Santa Claus" look. This pleased well-wishers and photographers, but not animal rights campaigners.
Ermine is the white winter fur of the stoat, which has been used to trim the crowns, ceremonial hats and robes of European royalty, aristocrats, judges and popes for centuries.
The online petition appealed to the Pope's reputation as an animal lover. An authorized biography of the pope narrated by a cat has even been prompted. Below are the reasons from petition signers.
Petitioners gave their reasons for signing on the website: here
"The pope has a cat he loves a lot, so why doesn't he use it for one of his capes?" wrote one of the petitioners, who signed as Sergio Porcelli from Ercolano, near Naples.
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