The pope wants humble cars to be driven by priests. Pope Francis on Saturday said it “pained” him to see flashy vehicles being driven by the churches priests.
Pope Francis since taking over from Pope Benedict has attempted to make the Catholic Church more austere with greater focus on the poor.
After observing that many young and trainee priests were carrying the latest in smartphone technology and fashion accessories, Pope Francis urged them to drop the devices. Francis continues to remind his young priests that mobile accessories and other material items are not the true route to happiness.
According to Pope Francis:
“It hurts me when I see a priest or a nun with the latest model car, you can’t do this.
The Pope humble cars pleas has led him to proclaim:
“A car is necessary to do a lot of work, but please, choose a more humble one. If you like the fancy one, just think about how many children are dying of hunger in the world.”
The former Cardinal Jorge Bergoglio of Argentina practices what he preaches. Since taking office in the Vatican, Pope Francis has chose to live in a Vatican guest house rather than the opulent papal apartments afforded to those men who came before him.
So what is the Pope’s humble car of choice? Francis is most often seen zooming around Vatican City in a compact Ford Focus. At times, he can be seen in a Mercedes or other vehicles already owned by the Vatican.
Opulence has always followed the top members of the Catholic Church, and, in the last 10 years, we have witnessed Pope’s in Prada sunglasses being driven around in luxury vehicles. It looks like Pope Francis is tired of the church preaching one thing and living up to a completely different set of opulent standards.
Do you think that the Vatican’s priests should drive humble cars and practice what they preach on a larger scale?
