He is a humble “Soul.”
Pope Francis ditched the safety of the famous “Popemobile” and decided to cruise the streets of Seoul, South Korea, in a locally made Kia — aptly named the Soul.
In the midst of North Korea test-firing three short-range missiles, his holiness greeted Koreans Thursday with smiles and waves as he drove by in the hatchback.
The five-day papal visit was highlighted by Francis’ first speech delivered in English, but all people could talk about was the pontiff’s new ride.
Seoul residents were elated to see Francis driving a car considered to be a proletarian vehicle.
“It’s humbling and at the same time respectful,” Seoul journalism student Kim Ji-hwan told ABC News. “The Korean Protestant priests at mega-churches ride Mercedes-Benzes.”
Kim was even more surprised by how Francis managed to squeeze inside.
Francis may soon take his common-man persona to America.
When asked by an NBC reporter Thursday if he would attend the World Meeting of Families in Philadelphia in September 2015, Francis answered yes.
Philadelphia Archbishop Charles Chaput had said in June that Francis personally informed him he would be visiting the City of Brotherly Love, but the archdiocese said Thursday it still hasn’t been confirmed by the Vatican.
It would mark the first papal visit to the United States since Benedict XVI traveled to New York and Washington in 2008.