A lover of classical music, Pope Francis left the Vatican on Tuesday night (11) to visit old friends who run a record store in Rome and returned with a CD as a gift.
The visit was supposed to remain private, but Javier Martinez-Brocal, a reporter for the Rome Reports news agency, happened to be there, filmed Francisco leaving the store on his cell phone and posted it on Twitter.
Francisco stayed inside the StereoSound record store, near the old Pantheon, for just over 10 minutes. A Vatican spokesman said the pope had come to bless the store because it was recently renovated and reopened.
Martinez-Brocal told Reuters that the shop’s owners told him they became friends with the pope years ago, when he was just Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio, archbishop of Buenos Aires.
He visited the store to buy classical music records and CDs when he was in Rome on Church business, and he stayed at a nearby residence for visiting clergy.
They said they gave the pope a CD of classical music, but weren’t more specific. Francisco is known for his fondness for Beethoven, Mozart and Bach — and, of course, tango.
The video showed the pope, who avoids bulletproof cars, exiting the store and getting into a plain white Fiat 500 with Vatican plates.
This is not the first time the pope has visited a lodge in Rome. In 2015, two years after his election, he ordered a new pair of glasses in the city that were supposed to be delivered to the Vatican, but he decided to pick them up in person.
Watch the moment Pope Francis leaves Rome record store
Credits: Reuters / Rome Reports
Reference: CNN Brasil
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