In his spare time he enjoys ranting about the relevancy of the arts in America, streaking UVA's historic lawn, and contemplating whether or not Olivia Pope ever shops in the clearance section.
Mr. Pope, who opened his shop smack dab in the middle of the heartland a year ago, decided to offer hands-on classes after hearing about another shop that charged customers just to watch a demonstration.
Dulce Padilla, 24, who works at a tarot card shop along the pope mobile's route, said she has mixed feelings about the visit.
Marisela Medellin, 43, who works at an optical shop, thinks the pope can help just by calling attention to the violence.
JULY 2ND — BACK FROM THE WILDERNESS In St. Peter's Square, the souvenir shops are selling Pope Francis mugs, calendars, aprons — and stacks and stacks of bound copies of "Laudato Si'," available in multiple languages.
While Pope Francis has publicly said shops on Vatican property ought to pay their taxes, any moves to take on the church will nevertheless likely be frowned upon inside the Vatican.
Rome's ecclesiastical shops, like Gamarelli (the pope's official tailor) on Via Santa Chiara and DeRitis on Via de Cestari are stocked with cardinal-red and papal-purple bales of fabric waiting to be made up.
As the class at Local Pig was ending, Mr. Swanstrom realized he needed more practice before tackling his own steer, so he asked Mr. Pope if he could volunteer at the shop sometime.
As Rome's Christmas shopping season officially kicked off on December 8, Pope Francis paid a personal visit to Via Condotti, a street in the heart of the shopping district lined with luxurious stores like Dior, Armani, Prada, Louis Vuitton, and Cartier.
Another took Mr. Pope's first class at Local Pig, volunteered in the shop and worked his way up to general manager.
