Saturday, 3 October 2026

Pope Francis visits a music shop without a cortege, arriving in a Fiat 500 with Vatican plates

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Pope Francis visits a music shop without a cortege, arriving in a Fiat 500 with Vatican plates

Yesterday evening the Pope slipped out of the Vatican and was caught leaving the StereoSound music shop near the Pantheon.

Francis likes not only mischievous escapades but also classical music, Beethoven, Mozart and Bach above all, so why not combine the two passions, he thought? All the more so as he has been friendly with the owners of the shop since his days as Cardinal of Buenos Aires, when he used to stay in Rome at a clergy house not far from this spot.

The photograph of the pontiff emerging from the music shop quickly flew around social media. The Pope arrived at the shop without any motorcade whatsoever; he is known to have no liking for armoured cars, so for his getaway he chose a Fiat 500 with Vatican number plates.

This, incidentally, is not the first time Francis I has been caught absent without leave: in 2015 he suddenly appeared at a Roman optician's and disconcerted the staff by asking them to hand over an order he had placed earlier.

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