Pope Francis's iPad to be auctioned

Montevideo, March 30:  An auction house in Uruguay’s capital Montevideo hopes to get at least $40,000 for an iPad used by Pope Francis, with the proceeds to be doted to a Catholic high school in the northwestern city of Paysandu. “There is interest not only in our country,” auctioneer Juan Castells said. “Recently, we received calls from around the world. The buzz has been great.” The device to be auctioned on April 14 was given by Pope Francis to Uruguayan priest Gonzalo Aemilius, who visited the Vatican. The friendship between the two Catholic priests dates to when the future pope, Jorge Bergoglio, was archbishop of Buenos Aires and learned about an educatiol institution that Aemilius ran in Montevideo. During Aemilius’s visit to the Vatican, Francis gave him his iPad “to do with whatever he considered appropriate”, Monica Olivelli, principal of the Liceo Francisco school, said.

The new high school, promoted by three Paysandu families and local church authorities, is modelled on the one Aemilius runs in Montevideo and was iugurated this year. To help fince the project, Aemilius doted the iPad Francis gave him. (IANS)