Pope auctions white Lamborghini to help Iraq’s IS-hit Christians

Pope Francis is known for his modest taste in transportation, eschewing his “Popemobile” for a small, black Fiat 500.

So when Lamborghini handed him a papal gold and white Huracán, there was little chance that Vatican City residents would see the pontiff performing doughnuts in St Peter’s Square.

Instead, he is to auction off the luxury sports car to raise money for charity, specifically to help Christian communities devastated by the Islamic State militant group (IS) in Iraq.

Money raised will fund the Nineveh Plains Reconstruction Project, a home for women who were victims of trafficking at the hands of the jihadi group.

Pope Francis blessed the special-edition car in a Vatican City ceremony on Wednesday. The value of a typical Huracán in Europe is about €200,000 (US$236,000).

However, at auction, with the pope’s blessing, his signature on the bonnet, and the gold and white design, the car is expected to sell for even more.

The Vatican said on Wednesday that the sale of the sports car would help work towards allowing displaced Christians “to finally return to their roots and recover their dignity”.

The money, made from the sale at famous auction house Sotheby’s, will be put towards helping Christians in Iraq who were forced to flee the offensive of IS from 2014 onward, as well as Italian charities in Africa.

In its takeover of the northern Iraqi city of Mosul, IS attacked churches and Christian shops and its fighters forced the Christian population of 3,000 to flee or be killed unless they converted to Islam or paid jizya (a tax paid by non-Muslims).