Pope’s Bourbon Makes Money For Charity

Two bottles of bourbon from Kentucky-based Willett Distillery signed by Pope Francis last year have raised $30,000 for charity according to auction house Sotheby’s. The primary recipient of the largesse were Paws 4 the Cause, an animal rescue organization based in Lexington, Kentucky.

Lexington is where the Reverend Jim Sichko, a Roman Catholic priest, is based. Sichko was appointed as a papal missionary of mercy – one of hundreds such missionaries appointed by Pope Francis – and saw the auctioned bourbon as way to raise funds for the charity.

During a visit to the Vatican last year, the 58-year-old Sichko had Pope Francis sign two bottles of 10-year-old bourbon donated by Willett Distillery in Kentucky.

Meanwhile, the 88-year-old, Argentine-born Pope Francis was admitted to the hospital this week for treatment of a flare-up of acute bronchitis which plagued him in 2023.