Pope Leo XIV arrives in Ford Explorer
He rolled up in his custom SUV to begin 10-day visit across African countries
Pope Leo XIV arrived at the airport in his custom 2026 Ford Explorer.
He drove across the tarmac in Rome to board on Monday, April 13, the papal plane at Fiumicino Airport for his third and longest-yet apostolic journey, a 10-day tour across Africa that includes visit to Algeria, Cameroon, Angola and Equatorial Guinea, according to the Vatican News.
“The visit highlights the Vatican’s growing focus on Africa, where Catholic communities are expanding rapidly,” reported DRM News.
The trip is expected to center on themes of faith, peace, migration, the environment, young people, and family, according to the Vatican.
In news video aired globally, Pope Leo emerged from the backseat of his new SUV, which Ford CEO Jim Farley presented to the Holy Father personally during a trip to Rome in February — a personal gift intended to honor the people, place and history that helped shape the global head of the church representing more than 1.5 billion Catholics.
The vehicle was built by UAW members from the Chicago Assembly Plant, located just five miles from the pope’s childhood home at 212 E. 141st Place in Dolton, Ill. The Ford factory, built in 1924 on Torrence Avenue, is the automaker’s longest-running, continuously operating vehicle assembly site that began with the Model T.
In February, Pope Leo and Farley went for a drive together, the two Catholics alone.
On Monday, the pope filled the Explorer with a team of religious leaders.
His plane departed at 9:06 a.m. from Rome on Monday, bound for Algiers International Airport Houari Boumediene. (Rome, Italy, is six hours ahead of Washington, D.C.)
‘God can’t be used to justify war’
During his latest journey, Pope Leo was scheduled to spend two days in Algeria—becoming the first pontiff to visit the country, the Vatican said.
The Holy Father planned to visit a home for the elderly run by the Little Sisters of the Poor and preside over Mass at the Basilica of St. Augustine in Annaba, located near the Tunisian border along the Mediterranean Sea.
“It’s a trip that comes as the first American pope is increasingly speaking out against the current conflict in the Middle East, saying God can’t be used to justify war, while Pete Hegseth, the U.S. defense secretary, frames the U.S. war effort as divinely supported,” CNN reported Monday. “Pope Leo’s decision to visit Algeria, a Muslim-majority nation, and tackle inter-faith relations also points to him becoming a diplomatic counterweight to the Trump administration and its military intervention in Iran.”
‘Hurting him very badly’
On April 12, President Trump posted on Truth Social, “Leo should get his act together as Pope, use Common Sense, stop catering to the Radical Left, and focus on being a Great Pope, not a Politician. It’s hurting him very badly and, more importantly, it’s hurting the Catholic Church.”
Vice President JD Vance, who just published a book “Communion: Finding My Way Back to Catholic Faith,” told Fox News host Bret Baier on April 13, “In some cases, it would be best for the Vatican to stick to matters of morality, to stick to matters of what’s going on in the Catholic Church …”
Pope Leo and President Trump have clashed over Iran publicly. Italy’s Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni called Trump’s words directed at the Pope “unacceptable.”
Pope Leo said he has "no fear of the Trump administration" after he was asked about President Trump's Truth Social post calling the pontiff "weak on crime, and terrible for foreign policy,” CBS News reported. "We are not politicians, we don't deal with foreign policy with the same perspective he might understand it, but I do believe in the message of the Gospel, blessed are the peacemakers."
‘We have prayed. We must also act.’
On April 11, Archbishop Robert Cardinal McElroy delivered a homily at the Cathedral of St. Matthew the Apostle in Washington, D.C., that ended with a standing ovation in a packed church. “… We must move beyond prayer. As citizens and believers in this democracy that we cherish so deeply, we must advocate for peace with our representatives and leaders. It is not enough to say we have prayed. We must also act.”
Father John Lyon, a friend of Pope Leo, told Kaitlin Collins on CNN, “In Peru, we lived together during a time of terrorism and an authoritarian government, and violations of human rights. And he was in the main plaza of our city gathering signatures in defense of human rights, in the plaza surrounded by government buildings. So this is not somebody who just woke up and decided, well, now is the time to speak about human rights. This is part of his identity.”
Pope Leo isn’t the first to speak out against military conflict. Others included: Pope Benedict X on World War I; Pope Paul VI on Vietnam; Pope John Paul II on the Gulf War and Iraq War; Pope Francis on the Russian invasion of Ukraine and Israel’s attacks on Gaza.
Prior to becoming Pope, then-Fr. Robert Prevost visited a number of African countries, including Algeria, Kenya, and Tanzania.
See video of his arrival at the airport in his Ford Explorer here.
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I love this. Makes me want to go out and buy a Ford Explorer...and maybe go to Mass...
A car is a good way to start a journey. You take us on such amazing journeys. Thanks for your excellent reporting.