VATICAN CITY (AP) — Pope Francis is raffling off dozens of gifts he’s been given during his short papacy, including a new Fiat 4×4, some bikes and a fancy coffee maker, with the proceeds going to charity.
The Vatican City State administration this week put up posters around the Vatican advertising the 10 euro ($13) per ticket raffle. Tickets are on sale at the Vatican post office, pharmacy and other venues open to the public. Winners will be announced Jan. 8.
Francis, known for his simplicity, has overhauled the Vatican’s finances to make them more efficient and to devote more money to charity.
The raffle is part of that effort, making sure gifts for which Francis has no use don’t just gather dust in storage but are used to help the needy.
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B-b-b-but the coffeemaker of power should be dropped into the fires of Mt. Doom…
I’m telling you, if this guy doesn’t stop trying to put Christ all up into the Church’s business, there’s gonna be trouble.
The one lasting impression I had after walking for well over an hour through just some of the vast riches of the Vatican Museum (an assemblage of all the goodies given to Popes over the years by folks currying favor with them and hopefully with God) was the amount of money that could have been raised to help the world’s neediest by simply selling it all off.
What the heck else would he do with these things? TPM will pick up anything the Pope’s PR machine puts out.
Sell all that crap and give water to the poor. I like it.