Pope Francis has endeared himself to the papal press corps by putting on a sombrero while on a flight to Mexico.
The hat, embroidered with a map of the Americas, was the gift of a journalist, Valentina Alazraki, who has been a correspondent of Noticieros Televisa at the Vatican since 1974. The pope put on the hat without taking off his white zucchetto.
Pope Francis is due to arrive in Mexico to begin a five-day trip later on Friday, after stopping off in Havana, Cuba, for a historic meeting with the patriarch of the Russian Orthodox church. He will celebrate mass in the Basilica of Guadalupe on Saturday evening.
It is not the first time Pope Francis has been persuaded to wear a sombrero. He was pictured in a smaller straw version last July, given to him by Bolivia’s president, Evo Morales.
Hundreds of thousands of well-wishers are expected to line the 12-mile route from Mexico City airport when the pope arrives in the capital, creating what Roberto Delgado, a local organiser, hopes will be a “wall of light and prayer”.
Francis will spend his nights in the ambassador’s residence in Mexico City, but will make a series of trips to outlying states stricken by violence and poverty.
