It seems Pope Benedict is also Pop Benedict.

Soda pop, to be exact:

Winston Churchill made no secret of his love of brandy and cigars; Margaret Thatcher was bereft without her handbag, and Pope Benedict XVI, I can reveal, has Fanta.

When the Archbishop of York, John Sentamu, visited the Vatican this week, he gave the Holy See a case of Holy Grail beer, brewed in North Yorkshire. The Pope, however, opted instead for the orange stuff.

“He doesn’t normally drink,” Catholic priest Fr Tim Finigan tells Spy. “He prefers Fanta. I’m not really sure why, perhaps because it was originally created in Germany.”

And what does Fanta make of its most famous customer?

“We’re very flattered,” says a spokesman for Coca-Cola, which produces the fizzy drink.

So might the Pope be fronting its next campaign? “I don’t think so,” he adds. “He’s not quite right for our target audience.”

Sweet. In every sense.