# What is the name of the thing the Pope is carried in? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [September 15, 2001, 3:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-name-of-the-thing-the-pope-is-carried-in/81757 "2001-09-15T03:29:50Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Gundy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/b782af/32.png) [@Gundy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gundy)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2001, 3:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-name-of-the-thing-the-pope-is-carried-in/81757/1 "2001-09-15T03:29:50Z")
The little platform deal that’s carried by admirers. For the life of me I can’t remember the word. First person to say “the Popemobile” gets a poke in the eye. Thanks for your help. ---
**Author:** ![Duck\_Duck\_Goose](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/50afbb/32.png) [@Duck\_Duck\_Goose](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Duck_Duck_Goose)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2001, 3:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-name-of-the-thing-the-pope-is-carried-in/81757/2 "2001-09-15T03:39:39Z")
“litter”. “sedan chair”. ---
**Author:** ![Duck\_Duck\_Goose](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/50afbb/32.png) [@Duck\_Duck\_Goose](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Duck_Duck_Goose)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2001, 3:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-name-of-the-thing-the-pope-is-carried-in/81757/3 "2001-09-15T03:40:51Z")
The Popemobile is the Caddy convertible with the bulletproof plastic box. ---
**Author:** ![Mudshark](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f04885/32.png) [@Mudshark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mudshark)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2001, 3:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-name-of-the-thing-the-pope-is-carried-in/81757/4 "2001-09-15T03:45:44Z")
I think the Popemobile’s official name is the Papal Trolley or Papal Carriage ---
**Author:** ![Gundy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/b782af/32.png) [@Gundy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gundy)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2001, 4:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-name-of-the-thing-the-pope-is-carried-in/81757/5 "2001-09-15T04:34:48Z")
Thanks, DDG and Mudshank. I’m thinking there’s a word for the device in general, though. Litter seems right-ish…for some reason, the words that float through my head are “parapet” and “bathysphere”. Neither have anything to do with the actual word I seek, but there you have it. This makes little sense, huh. ---
**Author:** ![scampering\_gremlin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e56c9b/32.png) [@scampering\_gremlin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/scampering_gremlin)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2001, 4:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-name-of-the-thing-the-pope-is-carried-in/81757/6 "2001-09-15T04:59:05Z")
I second Duck Duck Goose’s answer. Before the automobile industry appropriated the term, this was what people understood to mean sedan. During Jane Austen’s terminal illness, I believe in her final letter, she expresses hope of going outdoors by sedan. Robert Graves’s “I, Claudius” and “Claudius the God” make several references to sedan travel. Roman elites sometimes favored it for its luxury. Claudius used it more often than most because one of his legs was partly disabled. My Merriam Webster dictionary dates “litter” from the fourteenth century and “sedan” from 1635. It distinguishes them by stating that the sedan seat is a chair carried by two men. The litter has an indeterminate number of bearers, is covered and curtained, and the seat is a couch. Although the rider’s position is unspecified, the accompanying illustration shows a reclining woman. Litters (but not sedans) may also be stretchers for carrying the injured to medical care. ---
**Author:** ![Duck\_Duck\_Goose](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/50afbb/32.png) [@Duck\_Duck\_Goose](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Duck_Duck_Goose)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2001, 5:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-name-of-the-thing-the-pope-is-carried-in/81757/7 "2001-09-15T05:05:11Z")
I’ve never seen the Pope travel so I dunno exactly what gadget you’re referring to. Pope Leo’s sedan chair. [http://www.vatican.va/museums/patrons/documents/vm\_pat\_doc\_04022000\_sedanchair\_en.html](http://www.vatican.va/museums/patrons/documents/vm_pat_doc_04022000_sedanchair_en.html) Is it a sedan chair? ---
**Author:** ![scampering\_gremlin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e56c9b/32.png) [@scampering\_gremlin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/scampering_gremlin)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2001, 5:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-name-of-the-thing-the-pope-is-carried-in/81757/8 "2001-09-15T05:11:32Z")
Sure looks like a sedan: upright seat, poles for two bearers. Funny looking thing, isn’t it? Must have made a bumpy ride. ---
**Author:** ![ShibbOleth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/848f3c/32.png) [@ShibbOleth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ShibbOleth)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2001, 5:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-name-of-the-thing-the-pope-is-carried-in/81757/9 "2001-09-15T05:13:01Z")
Pope-on-a-rope? ---
**Author:** ![evilhanz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ba8739/32.png) [@evilhanz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/evilhanz)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2001, 5:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-name-of-the-thing-the-pope-is-carried-in/81757/10 "2001-09-15T05:13:11Z")
New! lush, pleather Pope carrying case! Now available in your choice of three colors. Carry your Pope action figures in style. Holds up to 4 pontiffs. Only $19.95. If you act now, we’ll include this handy Bishop tote bag absolutely free! Order Now! Seriously, it’s a sedan chair. > [@](#): > > Sedan \Se\*dan", n. [Said to be named from Sedan, in France, where it was first made, and whence it was introduced into England in the time of King Charles I.] A portable chair or covered vehicle for carrying a single person, – usually borne on poles by two men. Called also sedan chair. ---
**Author:** ![Duck\_Duck\_Goose](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/50afbb/32.png) [@Duck\_Duck\_Goose](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Duck_Duck_Goose)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2001, 5:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-name-of-the-thing-the-pope-is-carried-in/81757/11 "2001-09-15T05:17:49Z")
“Palanquin”? [sub]parapet, bathysphere, palanquin?[/sub] ---
**Author:** ![Duck\_Duck\_Goose](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/50afbb/32.png) [@Duck\_Duck\_Goose](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Duck_Duck_Goose)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2001, 5:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-name-of-the-thing-the-pope-is-carried-in/81757/12 "2001-09-15T05:21:22Z")
A palanquin is carried up on the shoulders of four men; a sedan chair is carried by two men at waist-height. Is he at waist-height, or up really high, when he travels? I need to get a life… ---
**Author:** ![Yersinia\_Pestis](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/ccd318/32.png) [@Yersinia\_Pestis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yersinia_Pestis)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2001, 5:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-name-of-the-thing-the-pope-is-carried-in/81757/13 "2001-09-15T05:21:45Z")
palanquin? ---
**Author:** ![Yersinia\_Pestis](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/ccd318/32.png) [@Yersinia\_Pestis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yersinia_Pestis)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2001, 5:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-name-of-the-thing-the-pope-is-carried-in/81757/14 "2001-09-15T05:23:32Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Duck Duck Goose \* > \*\*I need to get a life… \*\* And I need to hit “refresh” more often. ---
**Author:** ![Duck\_Duck\_Goose](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/50afbb/32.png) [@Duck\_Duck\_Goose](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Duck_Duck_Goose)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2001, 5:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-name-of-the-thing-the-pope-is-carried-in/81757/15 "2001-09-15T05:25:09Z")
“Papal trolley” and “Papal carriage” don’t bring up much, but “Popemobile” brought up _such_ a lovely picture… I was wrong, it’s not a Caddy convertible any more. Looks more like a Land Rover? SUV? Dunno, I’m not a car person. [http://www.time.com/time/daily/special/photo/pope/2.html](http://www.time.com/time/daily/special/photo/pope/2.html) > [@](#): > > The Pope Visits the Holy Land > John Paul II’s “popemobile” passes by police on camels in the Jordanian city of Madaba ---
**Author:** ![Gundy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/b782af/32.png) [@Gundy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gundy)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2001, 5:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-name-of-the-thing-the-pope-is-carried-in/81757/16 "2001-09-15T17:18:23Z")
Palanquin! That’s the word I was trying to think of - papally correct or not. Whoo! Thanks, DDG and Yersinia - youse guys are da best. ---
**Author:** ![JRDelirious](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jrdelirious/32/9531_2.png) [@JRDelirious](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JRDelirious)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2001, 2:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-name-of-the-thing-the-pope-is-carried-in/81757/17 "2001-09-16T02:53:08Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Duck Duck Goose \* > \*\* > I was wrong, it’s not a Caddy convertible any more. Looks more like a Land Rover? SUV? Dunno, I’m not a car person. > > [http://www.time.com/time/daily/special/photo/pope/2.html](http://www.time.com/time/daily/special/photo/pope/2.html) > > > [@](#): > > > > The Pope Visits the Holy Land > > John Paul II’s “popemobile” passes by police on camels in the Jordanian city of Madaba > > \*\* Converted Mercedes-Benz 4WD – not the SUV imported into the USA but a more utilitarian type (must be a rough ride for the old guy!), probably one of the many Benzes not imported into the U.S. as luxe pleasure-rides, but used in other countries as working vehicles (taxis, police cars, etc.) ---
**Author:** ![yabob](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yabob/32/2821_2.png) [@yabob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/yabob)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2001, 3:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-name-of-the-thing-the-pope-is-carried-in/81757/18 "2001-09-16T03:13:02Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by JRDelirious \* > \*\* > > > [@](#): > > > > \*Originally posted by Duck Duck Goose \* > > \*\* > > I was wrong, it’s not a Caddy convertible any more. Looks more like a Land Rover? SUV? Dunno, I’m not a car person. > > > > [http://www.time.com/time/daily/special/photo/pope/2.html](http://www.time.com/time/daily/special/photo/pope/2.html) > > > > > [@](#): > > > > > > The Pope Visits the Holy Land > > > John Paul II’s “popemobile” passes by police on camels in the Jordanian city of Madaba > > > > \*\* > > Converted Mercedes-Benz 4WD – not the SUV imported into the USA but a more utilitarian type (must be a rough ride for the old guy!), probably one of the many Benzes not imported into the U.S. as luxe pleasure-rides, but used in other countries as working vehicles (taxis, police cars, etc.) \*\* The Gelandewagen (or “G class”). They’ve been made since long before the SUV craze. Made either in gas or diesel - I’ve seen a couple in the Bay Area - the local Land Rover dealer had one on his lot for ages and ages before he got rid of it. ---
**Author:** ![dingleburg](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a9a28c/32.png) [@dingleburg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dingleburg)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2001, 3:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-name-of-the-thing-the-pope-is-carried-in/81757/19 "2001-09-16T03:32:21Z")
> [@](#): > > \*\* > Converted Mercedes-Benz 4WD – not the SUV imported into the USA but a more utilitarian type (must be a rough ride for the old guy!), probably one of the many Benzes not imported into the U.S. as luxe pleasure-rides, but used in other countries as working vehicles (taxis, police cars, etc.) \*\* it doesn’t go very fast. its purpose is display rather than conveyance. it allows thousands of people to gaze at him without exposing him to bullets and things. when he’s traveling for the sake of traveling, he probably has a nice big mercedes. I know I would. ---
**Author:** ![Sofa\_King](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/58956e/32.png) [@Sofa\_King](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sofa_King)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2001, 6:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-name-of-the-thing-the-pope-is-carried-in/81757/20 "2001-09-16T06:20:42Z")
So you might call it a **S** acerdotalist **U** tility **V** ehicle. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-name-of-the-thing-the-pope-is-carried-in/81757.md?page=2)