Yahoo – AFP,
19 Nov 2014
Pope Francis is raffling off unwanted gifts including a Fiat Panda, tandem bike and coffee machine to raise money for the homeless.
Ribauda, a
homeless woman, is pictured where she lives near the Vatican
on November 18,
2014 in Rome. (Photo by Andreas Solaro)
|
Pope Francis is raffling off unwanted gifts including a Fiat Panda, tandem bike and coffee machine to raise money for the homeless.
For just 10
euros ($12.50) those hoping to get their clutches on perfume, pens and even a
panama hat given to the pope can enter a draw, the proceeds of which will go to
a papal charity set up to help those who bed down nightly around the Vatican.
Tickets are
to be sold throughout the upcoming festive season and signs have already gone
up around the tiny city state advertising the draw, which will take place on
January 8.
Pope
Francis blesses the crowd during his
general audience at St Peter's square on
November 19, 2014 at the Vatican (Photo by
Vincenzo Pinto/AFP)
|
The
Argentine pope -- who chose his papal name in honour of Saint Francis of Assisi
and his devotion to the poor -- has cast off luxuries such as the
ermine-trimmed cape and red shoes worn by his predecessor Benedict XVI and
focused his efforts on helping the down-and-out.
He is also
unlikely to have room to keep the hundreds of presents bestowed on him in his
modest apartment, having opted out of moving into the spacious papal palace
after his election last year.
In February
the 77-year-old pope sold off his Harley Davidson -- worth around 15,000 euros
and inscribed with his name -- for 241,500 euros at a Paris auction, giving the
proceeds to a hostel and soup kitchen in Rome.
He also
appointed a papal almoner, Polish archbishop Konrad Krajewski, who helps those
who regularly sleep rough among the porticos near Saint Peter's Square, or poor
families struggling to pay their bills.
Krajewski
announced last week that the Vatican would be installing showers for the
homeless at public toilets just off St Peter's square. The initiative followed
an encounter with a homeless man who declined an invitation to dinner because
he said he was too smelly to dine with a bishop.
No comments:
Post a Comment
Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.