Pope Francis will re-use popemobiles for his Chile trip

Pope Francis greets pilgrims in St. Peter's Square at the general audience on Oct. 19, 2016. Credit: Lucia Ballester/CNA.

The commission planning Pope Francis’ apostolic visit to Chile has announced that the popemobiles which the Holy Father will use in the country have all been used during previous papal trips.

“We've made an agreement with the Vatican to reuse the popemobiles so as to comply with the Holy See's request to avoid a proliferation of these vehicles in the world, and also to carry the message of environmental sustainability that we want to give this visit,” said Javier Peralta, executive director of the Chilean commission planning the visit.

“Although we received proposals from different businesses in Chile to make them locally, we considered, along with the Vatican, that the most appropriate thing to do is to re-utilize vehicles that already have all the technical specifications,” he said.

Two identical 2015 Jeep Wranglers – which were used during the Holy Father's 2015 visit to New York, Philadelphia and Washington, D.C., and his trip to Mexico in 2016 – will be imported to Chile.

These vehicles will transport Pope Francis in Santiago and Temuco on Jan. 16-17.

The popemobile that will be used in Iquique on Jan. 18 was built for the pontiff's 2016 visit to Bolivia. It is a 2015 Toyota Series 70 Land Cruiser.

The vehicle was modified with solar protection, due to the high temperatures and exposure to ultraviolet rays common in the northern part of the country.

Peralta said that the popemobiles will arrive in mid-December.

The Toyosa S.A. business, which represents Toyota in Bolivia, contacted the Chilean commission directly to offer the Bolivian vehicle. Meanwhile, the U.S. vehicles were coordinated between the Vatican and Fiat-Chrysler.