ROME — Pope Francis met Friday with Stefano Domenicali, president and CEO of the Lamborghini company, saying his generosity resembles that described by Jesus in the gospel.
Papal spokesman Matteo Bruni issued a brief communiqué noting that the pope had met with the Lamborghini executive as well as a delegation from the OMAZE foundation, which oversaw the auction of the special edition Lamborghini Huracan donated to Francis in 2017.
The luxury sportscar in papal white and gold, blessed and autographed by the pope, fetched a million dollars at a 2018 Sotheby’s auction in Monaco and the buyer, a citizen of the Czech Republic, was also present to greet the pope in Friday’s meeting, Bruni said.
Pope Francis cited chapter 25 of Saint Matthew’s gospel, saying that the Lamborghini company’s generosity corresponds to Jesus’ description of charity in the biblical passage.
During the meeting, the delegation presented the pope with a symbolic check for the amount of 900,000 euros (one million dollars).
The last 200,000 euros from the sale of the sportscar will be used for the rebuilding of a seminary and a preschool in Haiti that were destroyed by an earthquake in 2010.
The monies that were already distributed to charity included 300,000 euros to the Pope John XXIII Community, which helps women who are victims of trafficking and prostitution, 200,000 euros to Aid to the Church in Need for a reconstruction project in the Nineveh Plains of Iraq, and 160,000 euros to two Italian associations working in Africa: the GICAM, which specializes in hand surgery, and Friends of Central Africa, which focuses on assisting women and children.
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