Pope Francis Raffles Off His Swag to Help the Poor

The Daily Beast ^ | 11.18.14 | Barbie Latza Nadeau

[Gamecock]

VATICAN CITY — We’ve all received gifts we can’t use or frankly just don’t like. They get stuffed away in a back closet or sold. Some are eventually re-gifted to unsuspecting relatives or friends. But if you are the pope, getting rid of unwanted gifts is not as easy as that, what with the Spartan living conditions and protocol and all. So Pope Francis has found a way to turn the generosity of others into good luck for a few.

Starting this week, the Vatican is raffling off tickets for a chance to win unwanted papal gifts that Francis doesn’t need. Raffle tickets cost €10 and can be purchased at a select few spots including the Vatican post office and at the Vatican’s tourist and pilgrimage bureau in St. Peter’s Square. The winners will be drawn on January 8, which makes the raffle tickets the perfect Christmas gift.

The prizes are impressive and give a window into just what sort of presents people give the pope. The grand prize is a pristine white Fiat Panda 4X4 – with full options. The second, third, and four prizes are bicycles—baby blue, orange and gray respectively; and the fifth prize is a tandem bicycle built for two – which begs the question of just who the giver of that gift thought the pontiff might be cycling around St. Peter’s Square with.

According to Rome’s Messaggero newspaper, which broke the story on Tuesday, the potential pontifical consolation prizes include an Illy brand capsule coffee maker, a HD digital camera, a silver picture frame, a Homero Ortega Panama hat, and a vast array of belts and comfortable shoes in the style the pope likes to wear. There are wallets, briefcases, and document holders, too. A Vatican spokesperson told The Daily Beast that the monogrammed items would not be included in the raffle at this time, though he didn’t rule out that further raffles would be held if this one proves financially lucrative. There are even electronics like iPhone and iPod docking stations and an assortment of pricey pens intended for the pontiff.

The money raised in the holy raffle will go to the Pope’s main charity for the poor. The project is being overseen by Father Corrado Krajewski, a Polish priest who has been Francis’s papal almoner since his election. Don Corrado, as he is known on the streets of Rome where he frequently distributes gifts of money, food, and clothing to the poor for Francis. Last week, Krajewski initaited a project to install showers for the homeless in the restrooms in St. Peter’s Square after meeting a man in Rome he had hoped to buy dinner for, who said he really wanted a hot shower instead. Rome charities estimate that there are around 8,000 homeless people in Rome.

Father Corrado also travels to poor areas around Rome to visit people in need to distribute money to pay utility bills, and past-due rents along with distributing rosaries and sacred pictures of saints, according to Messaggero, which says when Francis assigned him he told Krajewski.

“You will not be a desk bishop desk. You'll have to be an extension of my me to bring a caress to the dispossessed and the last of the city,” Francis reportedly told his good will angel. “I can not get out of the Vatican but you will.”

The papal raffle is expected to raise hundreds of thousands of euro and should easily clean the papal closets of hundreds of unneeded and unwanted gifts.

[Resettozero]

I’m thinking the religion threads are not going to be his cup of tea.

I cannot even go out to the library, Wal-Mart, and take my darling for a steak dinner without coming home to trouble on the FR Religion forum.

I'm not sure why the poster joined the thread and also why he/she left in a huff. Something about sewing dissention or not enjoy arguing...? Well, that's understandable, as long as a poster isn't one of the participants. Then, it's a bit...odd.

[NorthMountain]

That’s really funny ...

Again, don’t presume to lecture me on what I do or do not “discern”.

Your comment about the pope in #48 was a complete irrelevancy ... Why should I even care? And YOU complain about ‘trouble on the RF’?

Very educational ... very interesting ... very amusing.

[Resettozero]

That’s really funny ...

Again, don’t presume to lecture me on what I do or do not “discern”.

Your comment about the pope in #48 was a complete irrelevancy ... Why should I even care? And YOU complain about ‘trouble on the RF’?

Very educational ... very interesting ... very amusing.

You state what you think and then play word games when I reply to you regarding what you have posted.

YOU are the poster who was lecturing ME on"mind-reading" and forum rules. You sound as if you are not the only one posting under the username NorthMountain.

Furthermore, your point of view seems to change from post to post. Why won't you attempt making your points civilly and without accusations, whatever the points are?

It's clear you posted on this thread to cause more dissention, intentionally or unintentionally, because that is what you have done. That's mostly all you have accomplished here today.

[Resettozero]

When you tell the mohammedans that they're violent, they get mad and threaten to riot.

Sure sounds like some kind of obscure thinly-veiled threat. Otherwise, it makes no sense.

[Resettozero]

Your comment about the pope in #48 was a complete irrelevancy ...

Another poster who responded disagreed with you. And your snippy comment is relevent to my post 48...how?

Your apparent arrogance (and ignorance of factual statements vis a vis opinions) is not going to obscure your plain efforts to bully your way through this thread...not this time anyway.

With respect.

[CynicalBear]

>>I'm not sure why the poster joined the thread and also why he/she left in a huff.<<

I'm thinking he posted with the intent to chastise not understanding the scriptural admonish to correct those who are spreading error. There are too many who call themselves Christian who think it's all kumbaya. They leave because they are not founded in scripture and find themselves over their head.

[Resettozero]

Quite frankly, if I weren’t already Christian, the FR/RF might put me off Christianity entirely.

Whether you are a Roman Catholic or not, by your words, you are an iffy marginal Christian and will not speak plainly on this thread. As many RCC posters here tend to do.

If someone feels they've called in a heavy hitter bringing you into this thread, well, okay then. Now what?

[Resettozero]

I'm thinking he posted with the intent to chastise not understanding the scriptural admonish to correct those who are spreading error. There are too many who call themselves Christian who think it's all kumbaya. They leave because they are not founded in scripture and find themselves over their head.

Sounds reasonable to me.

Liberals and leftists, no matter their Christian worship preferences, tend to be THE MOST ARROGANT posters on FR, a website for Constitutional conservatives.

[NorthMountain]

Threat??? Wow. This is getting out of hand.

Its a comparison of behavior. Nothing more.

And if it makes no sense to you, if you feel that it doesn’t describe your behavior ... let it go. It’s not about you.

‘Bye.

[Resettozero]

Its a comparison of behavior. Nothing more.

Today, your posts have NOT been illuminating.

Who knows what you may mean by anything you post; I'm not sure you know how your posts are coming across. How can anyone know what you may or may not mean?

My posts stand up to your foolish derision.

[Religion Moderator]

This thread is posted in the Religion Forum on Free Republic. It is an "open" thread meaning posters may argue for and against deities, beliefs, religious authorities, etc.

If you do not wish to see RF posts, do NOT use the "everything" option on the Free Republic browse option list. Instead, browse by "News/Activism." When you log back in, the browse will reset to "everything" - so be sure to set it back to "News/Activism."

[MDLION]

“You are openly rude and quick to become hostile, like others of RCC mind sets.”

Said one on a thread which started with the simple premise of the Pope giving away gifts gathering dust to help the poor.

[Resettozero]

Said one on a thread which started with the simple premise of the Pope giving away gifts gathering dust to help the poor.

You make him sound...so humble and...good. And a generous kind of fella. And you have no idea who he is.

But I got what you were saying to me and understand it fully.

[Elsie]

relics bump

[Elsie]

Many of the people who post here... are neither Catholic OR Protestant!

[Elsie]

I would imagine that, in their thinking, any art representing a religious figure being prayed to would quickly become an idol.

Could?

---

Why Anyone would pray TO a figure is beyond me!

[Elsie]

I try to avoid the FR/RF interdenominational garbage. I’ve seen nothing good come of it in the year that I’ve been here, and a glance through the archives is even worse. Quite frankly, if I weren’t already Christian, the FR/RF might put me off Christianity entirely.

You oughta see the stuff that appears in mass media!

It is REALLY garbage!!

It's no WONDER that more are not Christian!

[Elsie]

One thing I found tacky though were the lines on the floor indicating how large other famous churches were in comparison to the enormity of St Peters. That kind of oneupmanship was not very becoming.

This comparison usually pops up in EVERY C vs P thread on FR.

[Elsie]

You'd also be well advised to actually read and comprehend what other folks write.

This we can do fairly well; but we have a lot of trouble understanding what they do NOT write.

That said; this Wesleyan wants to know: Are you a Catholic?

[Elsie]

So tell us where the *interdenominational squabbling* is coming from.

I was walking across a bridge one day, and I saw a man standing on the edge, about to jump off. So I ran over and said, "Stop! Don't do it!"

"Why shouldn't I?" he said.

 

I said, "Well, there's so much to live for!"

He said, "Like what?"

 

I said, "Well...are you religious or atheist?"

He said, "Religious."

 

I said, "Me too! Are you Christian or Buddhist?"

He said, "Christian."

 

I said, "Me too! Are you Catholic or Protestant?"

He said, "Protestant."

 

I said, "Me too! Are you Episcopalian or Baptist?"

He said, "Baptist!"

 

I said,"Wow! Me too! Are you Baptist Church of GOD or Baptist Church of the Lord?"

He said, "Baptist Church of GOD!"

 

I said, "Me too! Are you Original Baptist Church of GOD, or are you Reformed Baptist Church of GOD?"

He said,"Reformed Baptist Church of GOD!"

 

I said, "Me too! Are you Reformed Baptist Church of GOD, reformation of 1879, or Reformed Baptist Church of GOD, reformation of 1915?"

He said, "Reformed Baptist Church of GOD, reformation of 1915!"

 

I said, "Die, heretic scum", and pushed him off.

-- Emo Phillips