As a DIY Fix, Pope Leo Once Told Seminarians to Pee on a Frozen Windshield

In the freezing Andes, a future pope offered a very human solution to a very icy problem.

Pope Leo has always been a problem solver, even if his solutions are unconventional. 🤣

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I'm delving into Pope Leo’s time in Peru and unearthed a truly unorthodox anecdote from a new biography. Renzo Gómez Vega’s brand new book El Papa Peruano traces Leo’s path from missionary days in Peru to the papacy, uncovering tales of a pontiff who is down-to-earth.

The Frozen Windshield Fix (1998)

A standout story from 1998 finds the future Pope Leo XIV driving a combi van full of seminarians through the remote highlands of Peru, headed to a priestly ordination.

As they ascended into the Andes, the van’s windshield iced over. Stranded on a frigid roadside, he proposed a very unconventional fix.

He reportedly said that “someone has to urinate on the windshield.”

It sounded more like advice from a trucker than from a clergyman.

Yet one seminarian stepped up and did exactly that. Remarkably, the warm urine melted the ice just enough to clear the view, and the group carried on.

Problem solved — thanks to a roadside science hack they'd never forget

.A Lesson in Resourcefulness

This bizarre episode underscores Leo’s pragmatic, hands-on approach to missionary work. Gómez Vega notes that he often taught seminarians the value of self-sufficiency.

He would tell them a missionary must know how to change a tire, check a spark plug, and handle basic mechanics.

Faith may move mountains, but a little mechanical know-how doesn’t hurt.

Ultimately, Gómez Vega paints Leo as a leader with humility and ingenuity — even if that means grabbing the wheel of a beat-up van and resorting to odd DIY tricks.

This amusing anecdote shows the pope isn’t afraid to get his hands dirty (or his windshield wet) in service of the Church.

Thanks to your incredible support, Letters from Leo has climbed as high as #6 on Substack’s list of best-selling news publications.

I’ve got a full-time day job, so I can only continue to do this work with your generosity. If you find value in my work, please become a paid subscriber today.