The Pope autographs a BMW R18: the German motorcycle will go to charity at Sotheby's in Monaco.

ROME – Pope Leo XIV is riding a BMW. Naturally, the Bavarian custom powered by a 1,800cc boxer engine isn't replacing the more traditional popemobile: a Mercedes G-Class, in Robert Francis Prevost 's case. It shares the German off-roader's only shared white fuel tank, fenders, windshield, and panniers, but the R18 Transcontinental is destined for a charity auction, not for the Vatican's fleet.

The pontiff autographed the fuel tank of the motorcycle, which will be sold at Sotheby's in Monaco and will raise funds for Madagascar through Missio Austria , the Austrian branch of the Pontifical Mission Societies. The goal: to build a school for children forced to work in the mica mines, a mineral used in cosmetics and the paint industry, according to the organization's communications directors. For the occasion, Leo XIV was photographed astride the cruiser on the sidelines of the general audience in St. Peter's Square.

The motorcycle, which was then blessed by the Pope, was brought by the " Jesus Bikers ," faithful two-wheel enthusiasts belonging to the eponymous motorcycling movement founded eleven years ago in the German town of Schaafheim , with nearly ten thousand residents, about forty kilometers from Frankfurt. These are the same people who travel kilometers to raise funds for the most disadvantaged.