Pope Francis forgoes popemobile for Rio trip
Vatican City: Pope Francis is forgoing the bulletproof popemobile for his
upcoming trip to Brazil for the Catholic Church’s youth festival.
The Argentine pope will instead use the same open-topped car he uses
for zooming around St. Peter’s Square to move about Rio de Janeiro,
where he arrives on 22 July.
Pope Francis. AFP
In recent times, popes have always used the protected popemobile for
trips outside Rome. Francis, however, ended the tradition when he used
an open-topped Fiat during his recent visit to the Italian island of
Lampedusa.
Francis has made a point of tweaking Vatican protocol, especially
where it concerns the trappings of the papacy and his ability to connect
with ordinary people.
The Vatican spokesman the Rev. Federico Lombardi announced the change
Wednesday during a briefing about the pope’s July 22-28 trip.
