Pope's calendar on sale in Italy

The calendar features 14 different images of Pope Benedict XVI

The first official calendar featuring a pontiff - Pope Benedict XVI - has gone on sale in the shops.

Together - One Year With The Pope features the 79-year-old in a series of 14 poses taken during the summer at his lakeside retreat, Castel Gandolfo.

The pontiff wears traditional white in all the shots and the project has received the Vatican's blessing.

Some 800,000 copies have gone on sale, with part of the proceeds due to go to a charity in Rwanda.

The Pope has been identified as a fan of finery in the past, wearing red Prada shoes, the BBC's Christian Fraser reports from Rome.

Now you will see a new Pope every month, say the advertisements.

The calendar is being sold with the November issue of the weekly Catholic magazine Famiglia Cristiana.

It costs five euros ($6.4; £3.4) over the cover price of the magazine.

Part of the proceeds will go to a charity chosen by the Pope in Rwanda. Called Nazareth Town, it is a home run by the Catholic Church for orphaned street children.