Pope Francis is re-gifting. If you were among those who sent the Holy Father a thoughtful gift this year, don’t take offense — it’s not that he didn’t like what you chose for him. It’s just that he’d rather give it to the poor.
In keeping with the Pope’s emphasis on helping those in need and his shunning of extravagance, the Vatican is raffling off dozens of gifts including a papal white Fiat Panda among other lavish presents.
Breitbart.com reports that tickets will be sold at the Vatican post office, pharmacy and museum shops for ten Euros ($13) apiece, and proceeds will fund projects for the homeless.
In addition to the Fiat, the Vatican offices are offering up several bicycles including a tandem, “a high-definition digital video camera, watches, silver frames, fine pens, briefcases, wireless devices for iPod and iPhone, and an Illy coffee maker. There is even a white Panama hat, made by the Ecuadorian milliner Homero Ortega,” Breitbart reports.
As posters went up across Rome advertising the raffle, Pope Francis used his homily today to hammer home the need for a conversion of hearts made concrete in charitable giving. Referring to the chief tax collector Zacchaeus, who upon his conversion gave back four times what he had stolen, Pope Francis said:
"When conversion touches pockets, it’s a certainty. Christians in heart? Yes, everyone is. Christians by blood? All of us. However, Christians with pockets, very few."
The raffle will take place on January 8 “under the watchful gaze of a notary and Cardinal Giuseppe Bertello, Governor of Vatican City-State.”
And today we celebrate...