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Ever heard of Guardian Bells? They are these little novelty bells that you affix to your motorcycle to ward off “Evil Road Spirits.” You know, because nothing terrifies demonic spirits more than a little tinkle from the back end of your v-twin.

Well whoever was the marketing “genius” behind the Guardian Bell has nothing on the hustle of Pope Francis. The current leader of the Catholic Church, and champion of the oppressed and downtrodden, recently sent his signed 2013 Harley-Davidson Dyna Super Glide to auction along with its companion leather jacket.

So what is a papal-blessed cruiser worth? The bike and jacket sold for roughly $329,000 at auction in Paris at the Bonhams auction house.

Harley-Davidson is in Italy this week, gearing up for the company’s 110th Anniversary event that’s being held in Rome in June 2013. Apparently part of the pre-party planning involved having Pope Benedict XVI bless two fuel tanks today, with brand ambassador Willie G. Davidson present. This is of course a practice run for the full-bike blessing that will take place next year in St. Peter’s square.

We were going to write a tongue-in-cheek article about how we have never seen a company get as excited about a 110th anniversary celebration (though, there should be some sort of record for making the same motorcycle for that long of a time period), and maybe lace it with some choice idealogical wordplay, but honestly the press release from Harley-Davidson provides ample fodder for the cynics without our help. And here we thought the Pope was more of a Ducati guy

Pope Benedict XVI received a nice surprise today as Ducati Motor Holdings dropped off two purpose-built Ducati Multistrada 1200S Touring bikes for His Holiness. We don’t expect Il Papa to be riding the bikes anytime soon though, as the two Ducatis will be used by the Pope’s motorcade and Vatican gendarmerie (the Vatican police force), hence the special papal yellow paint scheme.