Overview

• The Vatican announced the gift during the Pope’s General Audience and released images of him walking Proton on a lead.
• Donor Andrzej Michalski told Vatican News he was inspired by photos of the Pope riding in Peru and chose a light-colored Arabian to echo the papal cassock.
• Proton is 12 years old and was born in Janów Podlaski, with a sire from the United States and a dam acquired from a Jordanian princess.
• Michalski read a letter seeking a blessing for his stud’s 30th anniversary next year and cited the apostolic exhortation Dilexi te to frame the gesture as concrete love.
• Proton is being held for a charitable auction with no sale details disclosed yet, reflecting the common practice of repurposing papal gifts to raise funds.