Being the Pope seems like a really cool gig, you get to travel to amazing places, live in your own city – in some nice digs too – and you get to wear some of the coolest threads ever.
Also you get given cool gifts such as a Lamborghini worth €180,000 (just over £161,000). It’s what Pope Francis received recently from the well-renowned Italian luxury sports car manufacturers.
However in line with his pious life of rejecting material goods, the head of the Catholic church donated the supercar to a charity auction, with proceeds going to three of the his favourite charities.
The jet white Lamborghini Huracan was the perfect match for his white cassock, as he blessed the high-powered automobile outside the the Casa Santa Marta which is a guesthouse for those staying at the Vatican.
While the idea of the Pontiff operating such a beastly machine at breakneck speeds through the streets of Rome is certainly one I’d like to see, maybe it’s a good idea the 80-year-old doesn’t get behind the wheel and just sticks to his iconic Popemobile.
Instead the Lamborghini will be going up for auction through Sotheby’s and the money made will be split between three charities.
A portion of the proceeds will go to rebuilding homes in and churches for Christians who were chased out of Iraq by so-called Islamic State. Rebuilding efforts will be mainly focused on the north-east region of Mosul, the Nineveh Plains, where Christians were forced to flee after years of conflict and fighting.
Two other charities benefiting the benevolent auction include an effort to aid migrant women who are forced into sex trafficking and prostitution, while another helps provide medical aid in Africa.
While the starting price for the Lamborghini is just a modest €180,000, a blessing from the Pope will most likely increase its value. A similar thing happened back in 2013 when he was given a Harley Davidson motorcycle.
The motorcycle was presented to him when the iconic motor manufacturers celebrated their 110th birthday. Pope Francis blessed the bike and donated it to a charity auction in Paris. Despite costing $130,000 (just over £98,000) his blessing increased its value to about $327,000 (over £248,000).
He also managed to sell a signed, limited edition, leather Harley-Davidson jacket for $77,000 (over £58,400). The proceeds from both those sales went towards a hostel and soup kitchen for the homeless at Rome’s main train station.
While you can scoff at the fact that the Pope just gives away these super cool gifts, he probably doesn’t see himself operating an iconic motorcycle or luxury sports car. I mean if it’s ill advised for him to drive a Lamborghini he certainly shouldn’t be anywhere near a Harley Davidson.
It would be a cool way to begin, and end, a church service though – might attract more parishioners that way. However if he was riding it outside of mass times he’d look like one of those men suffering a mid-life crisis.
