It's common at the Vatican for visitors to kiss the Pope's ancient
Fisherman's ring, but how often does the head of the Catholic church
take time to admire someone else's jewelry?
New Orleans Saints owner Tom Benson can now claim that distinction.
Benson and his wife Gayle made a recent trip to Rome and were given a brief audience with Pope Benedict XVI at St. Peter's Square, after his weekly general audience.
Benson tells the New Orleans Times-Picayune
that after the introduction he told Benedict, "I'd like to show you my
ring," and extended the hand that bears the Saints' Super Bowl
championship ring from the 2009 season.
As the photo shows,
Benedict took a close look and apparently was impressed, even if
Benson's ring wasn't a couple of milleniums old.
"So it was a nice conversation," Benson said. "And he was very sincere about this whole thing."
That's a much happier ending than the one New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft had when he let Russian President Vladimir Putin try on one of his Super Bowl rings -- and never got it back.