The car used by Pope Francis during his visit to Panama in 2019 will be the top prize in a raffle to raise funds for charities, the Panamanian Catholic Church announced Thursday.
The blue Toyota Prius with 14,000 kilometers on the odometer had been assigned to Pope Francis’ trips during World Youth Day (WYD) from January 23 to 27, 2019 in Panama. The closing mass had gathered more than 700,000 faithful, according to the Church.
The raffle is organized to compensate for the drop in Church income due to the Covid-19 pandemic, the Archbishop of Panama City, Monsignor José Domingo Ulloa, said this Thursday at a press conference.
“historical value”
“It really is a very special car: it is the one the Pope was in” when he was not on board his white “Popemobile”, stressed the Panamanian prelate.
“It’s a car for everyone, including non-believers because it has historical value,” he said.
After the papal visit, the vehicle was used solely for administrative procedures and it was the “difficult” economic situation of the archdiocese that gave rise to the idea of making it the prize of a great raffle.
“The economy has suffered from the covid pandemic, as has the income of all organizations (…). The Church has not escaped this reality,” said Victor Chang, financial comptroller for the archdiocese.
“Income has not returned to the level of before the pandemic”, while the latter means that there are “many more needs (…) to help the most vulnerable people”, observed Felipe Fábrega, responsible for organizing the raffle.
The archdiocese attends to the needs, in particular, of centers for helping families in need, soup kitchens and centers for patients with HIV.
Source: BFM TV
