This is kinda freaky (yet I think I want one)

Written on 12:04 AM by Jack B.

Now you can have that feeling of being part of the flock everywhere you go thanks to a new portable Benedict XVI pope doll which makes penance possible wherever you may be.

While his boss is omnipotent, the pope himself cannot be in two places at once and can therefore not be expected to be there for every one of the 1.1 billion Catholics in the world in their hour of need.

While Pope Benedict XVI's beliefs prevent him from cloning himself, a German company has achieved the next best thing by creating a lifelike representation of the cardinal formerly known as Joseph Ratzinger which can be with the devoted wherever they may be -- if they are among the lucky 999 to get the new pope doll while stocks last...

The doll, created by the Schildkröt dollmaker firm with the assistance of the Offermann dolls hospital, comes clad in white papal robes with a cross hanging round its neck, just in case anyone is confused as to whom it is supposed to represent.

Such signifiers will be welcomed as the face of the doll itself may throw some people as the 78-year-old pontiff's effigy looks a good few decades younger even though its makers point out that it's the first time one of their dolls comes with gray hair and gray eyebrows.