Holy See: Pope Steps Out To Buy New Glasses

Pope Francis attracted a large crowd of onlookers as he popped out of the Vatican to try on some new glasses.

The head of the Catholic Church arrived at Ottica Spiezia on the Via del Babuino in his Ford Focus, along with a bodyguard and some plain-clothed police.

The shop owner said he fitted new lenses into the Pope's existing frames.

Alessandro Spiezia said he made the Pope a new pair of glasses last year, and the Pope liked them so much that he only wanted the prescription updated.

"He had told me to use the old frames again because he did not want to spend much money and insisted on paying for them," he said on Italian television.

The new glasses were supposed to be delivered to the Vatican, but the Pope insisted on visiting the optician in central Rome himself.

Even though the Pope spent less than an hour in the store, he was mobbed by a large crowd that gathered outside. Many used their mobile phones to take photos of the Pope's shopping venture.

The Pope has previously lamented the fact that he can no longer walk freely around the Italian capital.

A German tourist told The Associated Press spotting the Pope shopping for glasses was much better than visiting St Peter's Basilica.