Sale of Papal memorabilia on Sunday

Press, 21 November 1986, Page 2

Sale of Papal memorabilia on Sunday

PA Auckland Want to buy the carpet the Pope walked on? How about the secondhand canopy In the shape of a heron after -the Pope has sat tinder it? The 300 metres of burgundy i carpet and the white canopy will be among several items up for sale on Sunday, the day after Pope John Paul II uses them in the Auckland Domain. The organisers of the visit say they will accept the "first reasonable offer” for the goods, including carpet which the Pope will stand on in the sanctuary to celebrate Mass tomorrow and the heron-shaped canopy under which he will sit to receive a national Maori welcome from 2000 Maoris in traditional costume. In an advertisementto

appear in the “Sunday Star,” Papal Visit Aotearoa also wants to sell astro turf “ideal for outside” — used once only by the pope and Maori elders during the official Maori welcome. t A spokeswoman, Mrs Lyndsay Freer, said money from the sales would go towards paying the Church’s share of costs for the Pope’s 48hour visit to New Zealand, estimated at $BOO,OOO. Mrs Freer said organisers had not decided what to do with the Popemobile after Pope John Paul had used it, although in some countries leftover Popemobiles were displayed in churches or museums. The organisers had decided what to do with the sanctuary and altar to be used for the Domain Mass, buf were keeping the plans secret.