Gifts being readied ahead of papal visit

As the Czech Republic prepares for the visit of Pope Benedict XVI at the weekend so a list of splendid gifts from the country’s religious and political figures has taken shape. Cardinal Miroslav Vlk has a mass bowl inscribed with Czech and papal symbols for the pontiff, while President Václav Klaus intends to offer His Holiness with two items made by prestigious Czech manufacturers. The Christian Democratic Party announced that they would be presenting the pope with a truly earthly gift, a rock from a monastery that the communist regime used as a work camp for political prisoners.