Mass Merchandising

Secular and Spiritual Souvenirs Abound for Pope's D.C. Trip

If your teddy bear needs a shirt, you can get one with the pope's picture on it for $15.95.

If Pope Benedict XVI is your man, you can feel close to him with Pope on a Rope soap for $9.99 or the Pope's Cologne for $25.95.

And if you want pure pope entertainment, there is a bobblehead Pope Benedict for $12.95.

Pope souvenirs -- from the irreverent to the religious -- are starting to pop up in Washington as the date of Pope Benedict XVI's visit to the United States draws near. Priced from $2 to $120, these souvenirs aim to cash in on the first visit by a pope to the United States in nine years and the first visit by Benedict since his election in 2005.

For some fans, the buying has already begun. Fairfax religious educator Laura Brooks spent more than $200 at the gift store of the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception on Tuesday for T-shirts, commemorative coins, miniature papal flags, buttons and a coffee mug -- all emblazoned with the pope's image -- as gifts for family, friends and students.

"It's a special thing, the pope coming to us," Brooks said as she loaded a shopping bag at a counter set up for pope souvenir-shopping. Her gifts, particularly for her students, are meant to encourage pride in the Catholic Church, she said, so they'll learn "not to be ashamed of the faith, to be proud of the faith."

Catholic organizations, including the Archdiocese of Washington and the basilica, the site in Northeast D.C. where the pope will speak on April 16, are selling merchandise, many with a logo licensed from the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops. The logo features a photo of the pope with the slogan "Christ Our Hope." The archdiocese has also created its own logo: the pope holding a crucifix, with a red rectangle with a cross and crossed keys.

The archdiocese and the basilica's products were designed and are being manufactured by Catholic to the Max, a division of Nelson Woodcraft, a family-owned manufacturer of Catholic memorabilia in Steubenville, Ohio. The company will share proceeds of the sales -- no one will say how much -- with the archdiocese and the basilica.

Owner Mark Nelson said he wants the souvenirs to combine the religious and the secular.

"We've geared products to be such that they're not just souveniry but spiritual in nature," he said.

Catholic bookstores are also beginning to stock up. The Catholic Information Center, a bookstore on K Street NW, began carrying mugs, framed prints and baseball caps with images of the pope last week, said employee Scott Johnston. It's too soon to tell how sales will go, Johnston said, but the store has high hopes.

The archdiocese is selling items through PopeVisit2008.com and will also hawk items at stands inside Nationals Park on April 17, when the pope will hold a public Mass there. Along with $18 T-shirts (one style reads Property of Pope Benedict XVI) and $2.50 bumper stickers (I {heart} Pope Benedict) are religious items, including rosaries, prayer cards and small crucifixes.