Vatican City, Aug 25, 2010 / 18:21 pm
The Pope's cobbler delivered him two new pairs of shoes in person on Wednesday, one white and one in the traditional red. Making a personal effort to improve Christian unity, the shoemaker also sent a pair to the Russian Orthodox Patriarch in the mail.
Adriano Stefanelli, the craftsman who designs and makes the custom footwear, first began delivering shoes to the Vatican when he saw John Paul II suffering in 2003.
He described to L'Osservatore Romano (LOR) after this Wednesday's general audience how back in 2003, he saw John Paul II on television and asked himself "instinctively" what he could do personally to alleviate the Pope's pain. Stefanelli's thoughts went to the shoes, and he quickly produced four pairs for him.
He has produced shoes for Pope Benedict XVI in each of the five years of his pontificate, also making him slippers for around the house and some hiking shoes for the summer he spent in northern Italy in 2008.