His enthusiasm for changing the traditional image of the Vatican did not fade despite his departure. He Pope Francisburied this Saturday at six days of death as a result of a cerebral stroke, it will also be remembered for its eagerness to bend the rigid customs of the Catholic Church. Even at his funerals, the 88 -year -old Argentine managed to attempt against tradition and that his coffin is fired in a six -kilometer colossal procession to be buried in the Basilica of Santa María la Mayor, where he used to pray during his papacy. There are many other more transcendental gestures to understand their legacy, but among the apparently more superficial there is one: his papamobile.
Between the Basilica of San Pedro and that of Santa María la Mayor there is a distance of six kilometers. There were more than 150 thousand believers who fired the funeral courtship of the Pontiff, one that once again chosen the Basilica of Santa María for his remains as it did not happen long ago. Or rather, it was the first in a century.
Pope Francis greets the crowd from the Papamóvil after the Mass of Easter, in the Plaza de San Pedro del Vaticano on April 20. (Photo: AFP)
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Jorge Mario Bergoglio, who is as the Argentine Pope was really called, was not only passionate about football and his dear San Lorenzo. I was also obsessed with change. Maybe that’s why he promised to break so many customs and ended up being the first in many things.
Bergoglio was the first Pope who decided to live away from the Apostolic Palace, he was also the first to sign a statement of fraternity with Islamic authorities and the first to visit Iraq. Of those first times his papamóvil was not saved, one adapted by the German brand Mercedes Benz to verify his genuine interest in the change in the way of moving his vehicle: with electricity.
Two conditions imposed Francisco for the geniuses of Mercedes. First, that the Papamobo has zero emissions and second, that it is excessively slow to be able to greet and interact with the people. In December of last year, the automotive company met the environmental demands of the Vatican, adding a fabulous detail for Francisco: it was extremely silent to move.
Pope Francis receives the first electric “Papamóvil. The CEO Ola Källenius (second from the left) was accompanied by Britta Seeger, a member of the Board of Directors responsible for sales and marketing; Marc Langenbrinck (left), CEO of Mercedes-Benz Italia; and Karl Schregle (right), sales director of MBC Europe, on the appointment on the outskirts of the Basilica of San Pedro. (Photo: Mercedes-Benz)
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On his last trip, he asked to be taken in his papamobile and not in the traditional black car that his remains should carry.
11 years ago, when he still did not have an electric papamóvil, Francisco went viral for adding a passenger to his comfortable car. It was the Argentine priest Fabián Páez, close friend of the Supreme Pontiff and for whom he did not hesitate to ask the papamobile to stop at the surprise of the entire legion of security men who surrounded him on his journey through the Plaza de San Pedro, in Rome.
“Come!
“I can’t think anything, I went up to the papamobile and told me what I’m doing here, my mother!, I looked at him and he just smiled,” said the priest after the colossal adventure with his friend Francisco.
Pope Francis greets the crowd from the papamobile in Ajaccio, as part of his trip to the French island of Corsica, on December 15, 2024. (Photo of Ludovic Marin / AFP)
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When Pope Francis did not use the papamobile, he moved by bus next to the other cardinals inside the Vatican. He was barely appointed Pope, he gave up using papal limousine as a sign of humility.
Then, he decided to travel in a renault 4 1984 model with 30 years of use. Once he received a motorcycle from the Harley-Davidson brand, but then auctioned it. His gestures, like his electric papamobile, were also a declaration of principles.
