Pope Francis gets a used car, and plans to drive it

In this Sept. 7, 2013, picture made available by the Vatican newspaper l'Osservatore Romano, Pope Francis, right, speaks with the Rev. Renzo Zocca, second from right, and owner of the Renault 4L seen at left, his assistant Luigi Macchioni, and car-body repairer Stefano Veronesi, fourth from right, after the car was donated by Zocca, at the Vatican.

VATICAN CITY (AP) — Pope Francis now has his own mini-popemobile after getting a good deal on a used car that he plans to drive himself.

A Vatican spokesman, the Rev. Ciro Benedettini, says Francis accepted the 1984 Renault 4, donated for free by a priest in northern Italy who used it to visit poor parishioners. The four-door car, in papal white, has a manual shift and a new engine. Benedettini told the Associated Press on Wednesday: "The pope intends to drive it."

The donor, the 79-year-old Rev. Renzo Zocca, says he took Francis for a short drive in the car at the Vatican on Saturday and that Francis told him he knows how to drive it.

Zocca said he thinks Francis will use it for short commutes on Vatican grounds.

Featured Weekly Ad