Ever since Argentinian Jorge Mario Bergoglio ascended to the papacy in early 2013, it was evident that he was going to be a different kind of Pope.
One of those differences became evident in October of 2014 when Pope Francis decided to make Vatican City’s Sistine Chapel available for rent for private functions, with the proceeds from such functions going to charities for the poor and homeless.
Which is how today we are able to make the alliterative connection between the Pope and Porsche. The news out of Rome is that on October 18 Porsche became the first company to conduct a corporate event in the Sistine Chapel.
It’s not exactly a big affair, just 40 guests paying 5,000 euros each for a classical music concert, followed by a dinner in the museum where the decor includes priceless masterpieces. 40 guests is a mere blip on the Sistine Chapel’s radar, where nearly six million visitors a year visit and gaze upward at Michelangelo’s painted ceiling.
Among the 40 attendees will not be the Pope himself, who is known for shunning the pomp and luxury that has attended church leaders previously. Pope Francis lives in a simple apartment and is not a “car guy,” frequently riding in an ordinary small passenger car rather than a limousine.
There have been concerts in the Sistine Chapel before, but these have been for church-related activities. The Porsche event is the first such commercially-sponsored event.
Of course, there are cynics who contend that the Catholic Church itself is a commercial enterprise, but we ignoring the cynics today. Commercial rental of the Sistine Chapel is noteworthy, and that Porsche is the first to take advantage of the opportunity is car news. And the cynics need to remember that the proceeds are earmarked for charity work.
To a certain degree we don’t see much difference between this and a local car club renting a church basement for its meetings. But this is a pretty special church basement.