The blue car used by Pope Francis during his WMOF trip to Ireland is to be donated to help the homeless.
On Monday, Archbishop Diarmuid Martin announced that the car would be donated to Crosscare, the social care agency of the Archdiocese of Dublin.
It will be used by Crosscare staff based in the agency’s Mater Dei homeless hub, which helps families move from the temporary facility to more secure, long-term accommodation.
Since it opened, 100 families have moved through the system, and the blue Skoda Rapid used by the Pontiff during his visit to Dublin will be used daily by Crosscare staff to take families who are moving on to view their next accommodation.
Conor Hickey, Director of Crosscare services, said the agency was delighted with the gift from the Pope and he hoped that families who were struggling would find this gesture from the Pope of some comfort in that they were constantly remembered by him.
Crosscare will not, however, be able to keep the number plate on the car – SCV 1 – which is an acronym both in Italian and in Latin.
The Latin is Status Civitatis Vaticanae and the Italian is Stato della Città del Vaticano and when translated from both languages, it means Vatican City.