Pope gives a lift to 2 kids in St. Peter's Square
By Associated Press
Apr 16, 2014 5:41 AM CDT
Pope Francis drinks from a mate gourd, a traditional South American cup, that was offered by Maximiliano Costantino a pilgrim from Cordoba, Argentina, as the Pontiff was touring with his pope-mobile St. Peter's Square on the occasion of the weekly general audience at the Vatican, Wednesday, April 16,...   (Associated Press)

VATICAN CITY (AP) — Pope Francis has given a lift to two lucky kids during his general audience in St. Peter's Square.

A particularly jovial Francis hopped off his white, open-air car Wednesday to greet a group of fifth graders from Perugia who presented him with a T-shirt from their school. Seemingly joking, Francis asked if any of them wanted to take a spin through the square.

"Me! Me! Me!" they yelled.

Francis picked 11-year-olds Livio Bastianelli and Davide Maria Bianchi and the two hopped aboard.

Bastianelli told The Associated Press it was a ride of a lifetime: "I was really excited. That never happens!"

Francis' sense of humor was also on display later, as he joked that a monsignor, forced to cut short a reading because of a nagging cough, was "getting old."

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