Pope Francis writes on the bonnet of a Lamborghini donated to him by the luxury sports car maker, at the Vatican, Wednesday, Nov. 15, 2017. L'OSSERVATORE ROMANO/POOL PHOTO VIA AP
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By
NICOLE WINFIELD | November 15, 2017
VATICAN
CITY — Pope Francis got the keys to a fancy new Lamborghini on Wednesday — but
he won't be tooling around the Vatican gardens in it.
Instead,
the special edition Huracan will be auctioned off by Sotheby's, with the
proceeds going to charities including one aimed at helping rebuild Christian
communities in Iraq that were devastated by the Islamic State group.
Officials
from the luxury sports car maker presented Francis with the sleek white car
with papal yellow-gold detailing on Wednesday, outside the Vatican hotel where
he lives. The pope promptly blessed it.
Base
prices for the Huracan, which was first introduced in 2014, usually start at
around 183,000 euros ($217,000.) A special edition built for a papal charity
would be expected to fetch far more at auction.
Francis
got around his native Buenos Aires on public transport and has long railed
against people who buy the latest model cars or cellphones. As pope, he uses a
blue Ford Focus inside the Vatican walls, and he has made a statement on all
his foreign trips by shunning fancy, bullet-proof SUVs and opting instead for
modest Fiats or KIAs.
Some
of the funds raised from the auction will go to rebuilding homes, churches and
public buildings in Iraq's Nineveh Plains that were devastated during three
years of fighting by the Islamic State group. The Vatican said the aim is to
allow Christians who were forced to flee Nineveh "to finally return to
their roots and recover their dignity."
Other
funds will go to charities that help women who are trafficked and forced into
prostitution, and those that provide medical care in Africa.
The
Sant'Agata Bolognese-based Lamborghini is owned by Germany's Volkswagen.
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