CARTAGENA, Colombia – Pope Francis said he had no magic words or special recipes for Colombians seeking peace, but rather he wanted to listen to them, learn from them and travel a bit of the road with them.

VATICAN CITY - While cruising past cheering crowds in Naples, Italy, earlier this year, Pope Francis received an unexpected gift. A local pizzeria owner jogging alongside the papal car jumped over the barrier and handed Francis a pizza, which the smiling pope willingly accepted.

VATICAN CITY - More than a month before Pope Francis was scheduled to arrive in the United States, his ride landed on U.S. shores.

VATICAN CITY - A new, specially modified Hyundai SUV has joined the elite ranks of the popemobile fleet.

MANILA, Philippines - Philippine church officials said the pope will be riding in open vehicles during his five-day visit in January.

RIO DE JANEIRO - The cancellation of a scheduled Popemobile ride through a working-class neighborhood suggests that, despite official assurances, Pope Francis' chaotic entrance into the city July 22 may have raised concerns among those responsible for his safety during his first international trip as Pope.

They say the sky’s the limit. Just don’t say it to someone as practical as Toronto native Eric Leong.

The strategy that won him and partner Han Yong-fei the 2012 Autostyle Design Competition for designing a new popemobile was based on plans that were never too “blue sky,” never too unattainable.

“There are things that we could have done that might have looked really cool,” said Leong. “Even though it might seem cool, being blue sky is something that we didn’t want to do because it’s not in a way feasible or possible.”

Leong and Yong-fei’s popemobile design, a modification of a hybrid Volkswagen Cross Coupé, included spray-on batteries to decrease weight, bullet-proof kevlar-belted wheels and a solar panel on the roof for a “greener aspect,” said Leong, who promises that everything in their design can be produced.

The pair were among 22 young designer finalists chosen out of 70 applicants invited to the 19th-century Villa di Bagno in Italy in October where their popemobile proposals were on display. They competed with the goal to build an eco-friendly vehicle with high Pope visibility and strict security requirements. Pope Benedict XVI has spoken on protecting the environment, and the Vatican aims to use renewable energy sources for 20 per cent of its energy needs by 2020.

The popemobile designs had to be based on a production hybrid car model or concept car design and keep the car model's front features so as to maintain the brand image. Only the rear of the vehicle could be modified and in such a way as to guarantee comfort for five passengers and maximum visibility of the Pope. Projects needed to use alternative energy, cutting-edge materials and innovative technology that allowed for rapid and easy rear access to and from the vehicle.

In high school, Leong, now 25, knew he was interested in art and engineering. But he found neither to be fulfilling enough. Then he came across industrial design.

“That was a pretty good mixture,” he said, “and so that’s how I ended up in the design field.”

Leong completed his degree in industrial design at Toronto’s Humber College. But he met teammate and classmate Yong-fei, 23, at Sweden’s Umeå Institute of Design.

“I just finished my master’s in transportation design,” said Leong, who is now looking for a placement in this field.

Representatives from the ninth Autostyle competition came to the school looking for contestants to design a new popemobile, he said. Berman, an Italian car-parts manufacturer, sponsored the contest. This year, the Vatican Publishing House also supported the competition and will publish the best eco-popemobile design drawings. The panel of judges included design directors from Alfa Romeo, Audi, Bentley, Fiat, Ford, Ferrari and Toyota.

(With files from the Catholic News Service.)

ROME  - Ten teams of young international designers battled it out to produce an innovative eco-friendly popemobile that could guarantee high "Pope visibility," meet strict security standards and promise low emissions.

Some proposed features included sunroof panels that would open like flower petals to side windows that could "live Tweet" messages to and from the pope.

The winners, however, kept it simple.

Eric Leong, 24, of Toronto, and Han Yong-fei, 23, of France, modified a hybrid Volkswagen Cross Coupe concept car into a white popemobile with an expandable solar roof and bullet-proof wheels. Their design also featured so-called "spray-on battery" technology in which each element of a traditional lithium-ion battery is incorporated into a liquid that can be sprayed, in layers, on many kinds of surfaces. The spray-on technology provides "better efficiency" for rechargeable batteries by reducing the car's weight, the designers said.

One eco-popemobile design finalist was a team of students from Turin's European Institute of Design. They used a BMW ActiveHybrid X6 vehicle and gave it a back roof made up of two dozen folding panels that could open up like flower petals, allowing the Pope to stand and greet the faithful. The car design also featured armoured side windows that double as monitors capable of displaying live, "selected Tweets for and from the Holy Father," according to the young design makers.

The Italian car-parts manufacturer, Berman, sponsored the competition near Mantua, Italy, Oct. 11-12 and invited select car design students from around the world to submit their drawings.

It marked the first time the annual Autostyle Design Competition had a special category for a popemobile, according to L'Osservatore Romano, the Vatican newspaper.

A panel of judges, including design directors from Alfa Romeo, Audi, Bentley, Fiat, Ford, Ferrari, Toyota and the University of Florence, picked the winning designs "based on their consistency with (a major carmaker's) brand, their originality and innovation, the comprehensiveness and elegance of the work and the feasibility of the projects," according to cardesignnews.com.

The popemobile designs had to use a production hybrid car model or concept car design and keep the car model's front features so as to maintain the brand image. Only the rear of the vehicle could be modified and it had to be done in such a way that it guaranteed comfort for five passengers and maximum "visibility of the Holy Father," it said.

Projects needed to use alternative energy, cutting-edge materials and innovative technology that allowed for rapid and easy rear access to and from the vehicle.

The Volkswagen Cross Coupe concept car uses two electric motors and a next-generation turbo diesel engine, according to manufacturers.

The Vatican publishing house, LEV, will publish a volume of the competition's best "green" popemobile projects and designs.

Pope Benedict XVI has frequently spoken of the importance of protecting the environment, and according to Vatican officials, is committed to saving energy at the Vatican. The Vatican has said its aim is to use renewable energy sources for 20 per cent of its energy needs by 2020, the target date set by the European Union for its members.

VATICAN CITY - A select group of young international designers will be submitting innovative mock-ups of what an eco-friendly popemobile should look like.

For the first time, the annual Autostyle Design Competition will have a special category for a popemobile, according to L'Osservatore Romano, the Vatican newspaper. The vehicle design must meet standards for low-emissions, as well as the Vatican's safety and security standards, it said.

Out a pool of about 200 candidates, a commission will choose 12 student finalists who will then have seven to eight months to create a new popemobile design, said Sara Ferraccioli, marketing and communications officer for Berman, the Italian car-parts manufacturer sponsoring the competition.