50 Kids Pull Priest In A Porsche Through The Streets Of Malta

Inaugurations are a big deal – not just for heads of state, but, as it turns out, for priests as well. Like Father John Sultana, the new archpriest of the Żebbuġ parish on the island of Gozo in Malta.

For his inauguration, Father Sultana paraded through the streets of Zebbug standing upright in the cockpit of a Porsche Boxster. But the roadster wasn’t driving under its own power. Instead it was pulled on ropes by a team of some 50 schoolchildren.

The display drew criticism from members of the public, but not so much for the children’s labor – reportedly a traditional practice in the island’s villages – as much as the ostensibly ostentatious choice of vehicle, which reportedly belongs to the priest’s cousin.

“This is not an isolated case and has been seen in other localities in Gozo,” an unnamed spokesman for the local Curia (or church governing body) told the Times of Malta, adding that the car was not the priest’s choice but rather one taken by members of the community celebrating his inauguration.

Gozo is the second-largest island in the Maltese archipelago, a largely catholic group of islands in the Mediterranean located in between Sicily, Tunisia, and Libya.

Father Sultana declined to comment on the controversy, noted The Drive. “I’m sorry, but to me this simply isn’t an issue and certain comments being made are just not right,” said Sultana, asserting that “whichever way you comment, it is always taken out of context.” Sultana previously served as press director for the local diocese.