Accessibility links

Breaking News

Priest Hitches Ride on Popemobile During Papal Audience


Fabian Baez, a priest from a church in downtown Buenos Aires, is greeted by Pope Francis at the end of the Wednesday general audience in Saint Peter's square at the Vatican, Jan. 8, 2014.
Fabian Baez, a priest from a church in downtown Buenos Aires, is greeted by Pope Francis at the end of the Wednesday general audience in Saint Peter's square at the Vatican, Jan. 8, 2014.
An Argentine priest hitched a ride on Pope Francis' popemobile during the pontiff's general audience in St. Peter's Square on Wednesday after the pope recognized him in the crowd.

The pope thought he had heard a familiar voice when someone shouted out “Holy Father, Happy New Year” as he was driven through a crowd of thousands.

He turned and spotted Father Fabian Baez, a priest he knew from his days as archbishop of Buenos Aires. He asked his driver to stop the popemobile and gestured to the priest to come out of the crowd, video footage showed.

The pontiff then invited him to hop on the white vehicle and the priest joined him for the rest of the ride through the crowd.

The two embraced when Baez boarded and the pope was heard telling him, “This photo is going to go around the world."
  • 16x9 Image

    Reuters

    Reuters is a news agency founded in 1851 and owned by the Thomson Reuters Corporation based in Toronto, Canada. One of the world's largest wire services, it provides financial news as well as international coverage in over 16 languages to more than 1000 newspapers and 750 broadcasters around the globe.

XS
SM
MD
LG