Luxury sports car maker Lamborghini gave Pope
Francis a personalised white supercar on Wednesday, but he put it up for
auction to raise money for charity rather than give up his trademark
popemobile.
The Huracan sports car,
which boasts a 610 metric horsepower, was blessed by the pontiff, who
bent to scrawl his signature on its gleaming bonnet before it was sent
off to Sotheby's auction house.
The
supercar usually goes for around $237,000, but this model — featuring
gold stripes and gold-rimmed wing mirrors in homage to the pope's
gold-tipped stole — is expected to beat that.
The
money raised will go to four charitable projects, including one aimed
at rebuilding the homes and churches of persecuted Christians in the
Nineveh Plains in Iraq.
The
Lamborghini will also help fund an Italian association helping victims
of human trafficking and prostitution rings, as well as two
organisations active in Africa aimed at supporting vulnerable women and
children.
It
is not the first time the Argentine has received a high-speed gift: in
2014 he was given a Harley Davidson motorbike and jacket, both of which
he auctioned off for charity.
The famously humble pontiff is more of a fan of buses.
He
opted to ride one the day after his election in 2013 instead of taking a
limousine, and regularly used them in his homeland Argentina instead of
taxis.
The pope, who loves to be
close to the people, has stuck doggedly to using his open-topped
popemobile to move through the crowds at masses at both the Vatican and
on foreign trips, despite security fears.
He
has stayed faithful to the white all-terrain vehicles with bubble tops
despite an accident in Colombia this year in which he lost his balance
while it was moving and ended up with a black eye.
Historically,
popes moved around on a "sedia gestatoria", a ceremonial red
silk-covered throne which was carried on shoulders until the 20th
century, when it was swapped for the popemobile.
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