MERCEDES-BENZ AND THE VATICAN MARK 100 YEARS OF PARTNERSHIP

 

MERCEDES-BENZ MARKS LONG HISTORY OF MAKING CARS FOR THE POPE

Pope Leo XIV also met with the executives of the German auto company on Wednesday.

Pope Leo XIV with some executives of Mercedes-Benz after his private audience with them at the Vatican on Oct. 28, 2026. (Photo: Vatican Media)

Mercedes-Benz, the German luxury automaker, celebrated nearly 100 years of producing the popemobile — the pope’s personal vehicle.

To mark the occasion, Pope Leo XIV held a private audience with Mercedes-Benz executives on Wednesday. That same day, the exhibit “A Century of the Popemobile” opened at the Vatican Museums, featuring the first popemobile, gifted to Pope Pius XI in 1930, and the one in which St. John Paul II was shot on May 13, 1981.

Evolving Papal Transportation

In his address to Mercedes-Benz, the Pope praised the company for its enduring partnership with the Vatican and reflected on how papal transportation — from St. Peter to the present — has evolved.

“Over the decades, the Popemobile has evolved from a means of transportation into an instrument of encounter, enabling the pontiff to draw closer to the faithful during pastoral visits and public celebrations,” Leo said.

Pope Leo XIV addresses the executives of Mercedes-Benz during a private audience at the Apostolic Palace at the Vatican on Oct. 28, 2026. | Credit: Vatican Media

“In this way, your work has helped facilitate the Church’s mission of reaching out to people and bringing a message of faith, of hope, and of charity to the world.”

The Pope also encouraged them to direct their innovations toward a more sustainable world, placing their "technological innovation at the service of human dignity, care for creation, and the common good.”

From Carriages to Modern Transport

Papal transportation has evolved since the late Roman Empire, when popes were carried on the “sedia gestatoria” — ornate, ceremonial thrones carried by 12 footmen during processions and major liturgical celebrations.

Pope Pius XI used the Nürburg 460 Pullman, made by Mercedes-Benz, as the first official automobile to transport the pope. | Credit: Photo courtesy of the Vatican Museums

From the late 19th century onward, popes increasingly chose modern forms of transportation, with Blessed Pius IX using the first papal train in 1859. The Nürburg 460 Pullman, made by Mercedes-Benz and given to Pope Pius XI in 1930, was the first official automobile used to transport the pope.

The Fiat 1107 - Nuova Campagnola, in which St. John Paul II was shot on May 13, 1981. | Credit: Ishmael Adibuah/EWTN News

The word “popemobile” was first used to describe a custom-made Lincoln Continental for St. Paul VI’s 1965 visit to the United States. Popes since St. John Paul II have used the popemobile, with Mercedes-Benz adapting future models for security since his 1981 shooting.

Keeping the Pope Safe

Speaking on the sidelines of the launch of the exhibit “A Century of the Popemobile,” the Mercedes-Benz executives spoke with EWTN News, reflecting on the near-century-long partnership with the Vatican.

Marc Langenbrinck, CEO of Mercedes-Benz Italy, described the partnership as a privilege, especially as a Catholic.

“[This day] is just simply the most beautiful day of my career because I am Catholic and I believe, and for me it is something which is a project of a lifetime,” Langenbrinck told EWTN News.

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Marcus Breitschwerdt, executive vice president of Mercedes-Benz, explained the security and accessibility measures implemented in the popemobile.

“Well, first of all, a vehicle has to move safely, comfortably, but also safely in terms of traffic and accident risks,” Breitschwerdt said to EWTN News. “It has to be safely conceived and executed in terms of the current modern risks you face if you are in big crowds.”

Marcus Breitschwerdt, executive vice president of Mercedes-Benz, at the exhibition “A Century of the Popemobile” at the Vatican Museums on Oct. 28, 2026. | Credit: Ishmael Adibuah/EWTN News

“So we have armored versions; we have the secured glass Popemobiles, which are very, very sophisticated,” Breitschwerdt added.

Breitschwerdt, in a speech for the exhibit launch, also said that no Mercedes-Benz employee is ever allowed to sit on the pope’s seat in the Popemobile.

“There is a strict rule that no one — not even the mechanics who maintain the vehicles or our CEO — is allowed to sit in the popeʼs seat,” Breitschwerdt said.

- Ishmael Adibuah/EWTN News | Vatican

HOW VILLANOVA FEELS ABOUT HAVING THE NEW POPE AS AN ALUM

AP

Father Peter Donohue, the president of Villanova University, was having lunch with a few of the school’s alums in a Chicago restaurant on Thursday when word got out that white smoke was billowing from the Sistine Chapel, signaling the election of a new Pope. Donohue asked the restaurant staff to turn up the TV sound.

He knew his fellow Villanova alum, Cardinal Robert Francis Prevost—a Chicago native who graduated from the Philadelphia-area school in 1977, two years after Donohue—took part in the Papal conclave. But Donohue, like most other Catholics around the world, was not expecting to see Cardinal Prevost step onto the Vatican balcony, and introduce himself to the world as Pope Francis’ successor. After all, other church officials had more experience than Prevost, who had only been a Cardinal since 2023. And no American had even been elected Pope before.

So when Prevost was in fact announced as the next pope, Donohue was just as stunned as anyone. “I practically fell off the chair,” he tells TIME. “It was such a long shot.”

And in the minutes and hours that followed, he fielded a parade of well-wishes, as Donohue was suddenly the first person in history to lead an American university that counts a Pope among its alumni pool.

“You would think I became the Pope,” says Donohue, “I was getting so many congratulations.”

St. Thomas of Villanova Church at Villanova University in Pennsylvania on Thursday.Credit...Rachel Wisniewski for The New York Times

Villanova, a mid-size Catholic institution run by the same Order of St. Augustine that produced the newly-installed Pope Leo XIV, is enjoying one heck of a moment. A strong academic institution with a loyal alumni base, Villanova was probably best-known in the popular imagination—before the ascension of one of its former math majors to the papacy—for its success in college basketball. The Wildcats, under Hall of Fame coach Jay Wright, won a pair of recent championships, in 2016 and 2018.

“We already had God: we had Jay Wright,” says Paul DiSenso, a 2000 Villanova alum who lives in the New York City area. “Now we have the Pope too. That’s pretty good.”

What’s more, three of those championship players—Jalen Brunson, Josh Hart, and Mikal Bridges—are currently in the starting lineup for the New York Knicks, who just last night completed a second stunning comeback victory against the defending NBA champions, the Boston Celtics, on the road in their second-round playoff series. The Knicks lead the series 2-0, and with two home games at Madison Square Garden coming up on Saturday and Monday, New York’s “Villanova Knicks” have a strong chance to lead the franchise to the conference finals for the first time in a quarter century.

Forgive Knicks fans for believing that the surprise selection of Pope Leo XIV is some sign of divine intervention: even Father Donohue has been enjoying some of the Knicks papal memes running rampant around the internet. “Oh, I’ve already seen that one!” he says when I mention that the image floating around of the Pope eating cake with the three Villanova Knicks and Donte DiVincenzo, the former Villanova and Knicks player who was traded to the Minnesota Timberwolves before this season.

And forgive Rosanne Breen for beaming with Villanova love. On a 1-10 scale, she says, “my Villanova pride has always been a 10. And today it’s like 210.” Because today, on her 62nd birthday, Breen, who graduated from the school in 1985—the year the Wildcats upset Georgetown in an epic national championship basketball game to win its first title—found out a fellow math major was elected pope. Breen’s nephew, an engineering alum, texted her: Aunt Rosanne, can you believe the Pope walked the halls of Mendel Hall and had the same teachers you had?

Breen won the school’s math medal as the top student in 1985: Breen’s kids are all wondering if the Pope also nabbed that honor too. If he didn’t, they surely wouldn’t mind mom one-upping the Pope on something. 

“If he did,” says Donohue, “he probably wouldn't have told anybody. That’s the way he is. A very humble guy.”

In September of 2022, Breen lost her family’s Long Island home—and too many valuable possessions, including the math medal—in a fire. She told a couple in the neighborhood about losing her cherished award. Unbeknownst to Breen, her friends— who happen to be Jewish and had no connection to Villanova—called the school to inform officials about what happened to Breen. About a year ago, Breen discovered a surprise package in the mail. Villanova remade her math medal. It proudly stands in her rebuilt home.

She was known as Rosanne Puntolillo back then: for the last 35 years, Rosanne has been married to Mike Breen, the NBA lead play-by-announcer for ESPN and—here’s that divine sign—the New York Knicks. “I hope he’s a basketball fan,” says Rosanne Breen of the Pope.

“I'm a little bit speechless,” she says. “Of the million different things somebody could be, a Villanova math major is very much a grain of sand.”

Ryan Mahoney, a 2011 Villanova graduate who worked as an intern at the Vatican, doing web design and planning virtual tours his junior year, hopes Pope Leo XIV's election allows the church to spread the school’s core values—veritas (truth), unitas (unity), and caritas (love), emblazoned on Breen’s medal and all over campus. “It’s exciting for me as an alum, but as a Catholic as well,” Mahoney says. “An American Pope. who has these Augustinian values will be really nice for the global Catholic church.”

Villanova is in uncharted waters: no data exists to forecast whether a papal election increases inbound interest—in the form of more applications and donations, for example—in an American institution of higher education. If sports success is any indicator, however, Villanova could see a Papal boon. Donohue says applications increased after the hoops titles, like they have for many schools. “Certainly the name is out there,” he says. “When we won the basketball championships, people suddenly said, ‘let me look at Villanova. Let me investigate what this place is like.’ And so maybe people look at us and say, ‘Oh, the Pope is from Villanova. Maybe I should look at that.’”

Though Donohue knew Pope Leo XIV during their undergrad days, he won’t speak out of school. “I can't tell stories about him now,” he says with a hearty guffaw. “People would think that's terrible.” Prevost was bright, analytical and friendly, but it’s not like Donohue thought, back in the mid-1970s, he was going to be Pope one day. “Nobody says that about anybody.”

Right before speaking with TIME on Thursday, Donohue sent Pope Leo XIV an email, at his personal address. “It started out, ‘Bob,’” Donohue says. “Then I said, ‘I guess I should say Your Holiness.’” He told Pope Leo that Villanova, and the Pope’s Augustinian brothers in the United States, were praying for him, and wished him the best. “I’m going to try to see if I can get him as the commencement speaker,” says Donohue. Not for this spring though. Villanova already booked someone. Plus, Prevost needs to settle in at the Vatican.

“We’ll give him a year.”  

- Sean Gregory

SERIE A | ALL MONDAY FIXTURES POSTPONED

All of Monday's Serie A fixtures have been postponed following the death of Pope Francis, the Italian league has announced.

AFTER POPE FRANCIS 'DEATH, WHO WILL HEAD THE CATHOLIC CHURCH? | LIKELY LIST OF SUCCESSORS

The Pope was in a critical state as he battled respiratory complications at Rome's Gemelli Hospital. His ill health cast uncertainty over the Holy Year and the Catholic Church

Pope Francis has died at the age of 88. The news was confirmed by the Vatican. As per this, the Pope died on Monday at his residence in the Vatican's Casa Santa Marta.

The Pope was in a critical state as he battled respiratory complications at Rome's Gemelli Hospital. His ill health cast uncertainty over the Holy Year and the Catholic Church.

With the Pope now no more, one question comes to everyone's mind - who will replace the Pope?

But first, here's a look at what the Vatican says about choosing a new pope.

How Is A New Pope Elected?

When a Pope dies or resigns, the governance of the Catholic Church is passed on to the College of Cardinals. These cardinals serve as the Pope's closest advisors during their term.

Following this, a papal conclave is held in which the cardinals come together to elect a new bishop of Rome and the new pope is selected on the basis of a two-thirds supermajority vote.

The most recent papal conclave occurred in 2013 when Jorge Mario Bergoglio was elected as Pope Francis, succeeding the retiring Pope Benedict XVI.

Who Will Succeed Pope Francis?

While no official successors have been named, here is a look at the likely successors of Pope Francis.

Cardinal Pietro Parolin

70-year-old Parolin has been the Vatican's secretary of state since 2013. Hailing from Veneto, Parolin is the highest-ranking cardinal in the conclave.

For years, Parolin has also been considered as a sensible moderate figure who does not lean towards the "left" or "right."

Cardinal Peter Erdo

Erdo is a devout Marian (one who devotes his practices to Marh, mother of Jesus Christ), and the former president of the Council of Bishops Conferences of Europe.

The 72-year-old Hungarian is also known as one of the conservative voices within the church and has openly opposed the practice of divorced or remarried Catholics.

Becoming a cardinal in 2003, Erdo also believes that taking in refugees amounts to human trafficking.

Cardinal Luis Antonio Tagle

Tagle is the seventh Filipino to become a cardinal and if elected, would become the world's first Asian pope.

The 67-year-old cardinal serves as the pro-prefect for the section of the

first evangelisation of the dicastery for evangelisation. He was made a cardinal by Pope Benedict XVI.

Similar to Pope Francis, Tagle has shown more left-leaning ideologies and has criticised the church's language and approach towards the LGBTQ community, unwed mothers and divorced/remarried Catholics.

Cardinal Matteo Zuppi

Zuppi has been the president of the Episcopal Conference of Italy since May 2022. The 69-year-old was made a cardinal by Pope Francis in 2019 and is considered to the favourite of the Pope.

Since 2019, Zuppi has been sent to several global missions such as a peace mission to Ukraine and then to the US.

Zuppi has also shared positive views towards the LGBTQ community.

Cardinal Raymond Leo Burke

Cardinal Burke, hailing from Wisconsin, has been regarded as a traditionalist. He was made a cardinal by Pope Benedict XVI in 2010.

Burke has openly and publicly clashed with Pope Francis' liberal philosophies, especially regarding the willingness to allow divorced and remarried couples to receive the Eucharist. (also know as the Holy Communion - it is a central act of Christian worship).

As per Burke, Catholic politicians who support legalised abortion, such as former President Joe Biden, should not receive the Eucharist.

- Outlook Web Desk

POPE FRANCIS DIES AT AGE 88