Volkswagen said to have been owned by Pope Benedict XVI sold on eBay

Published: 2005-05-06

BERLIN (CNS) -- A Canadian-based online casino, known for making some unusual and expensive purchases of religious-themed items, can now add to its list of acquisitions a 1999 Volkswagen Golf said to have been once owned by Pope Benedict XVI. The Golden Palace Casino, based in Kahnawake, Quebec, placed the winning bid for the gray hatchback May 6 on eBay for 188,938 euros, the equivalent of US$244,800. According to a report by the British news agency, Reuters, the seller of the car was a 21-year-old German man, Benjamin Halbe of Olpe. He purchased the car locally for the equivalent of about US$13,000 in January. The news story said that at the time he did not realize it belonged to then-Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger until he later looked at the car's registration documents.

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