Golf balls and trinkets fuel sales after pope's death

ROME (Reuters) - From golf balls stamped with "Vatican Golf Club" to highbrow encyclical texts in Latin, the memorabilia business is booming in Rome after the death of Pope John Paul II.

The boulevard leading to the Vatican, Via della Conciliazione, is home to a string of shops and stalls selling religious items, trinkets and books to the millions of tourists and pilgrims who flooded Rome after the pope'sdeath on April 2.

"It's true, there isn't a golf course at the Vatican," a shop assistant conceded as he stood beside a basket ofballs costing three euros each and bearing an image of St. Peter's Basilica.

"It's for the tourists, but it's just a bit of fun."

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