The 83-year-old was on his way to visit a nativity scene in Vatican City’s central plaza when the woman grabbed his hand and yanked him towards her. Pope Francis angrily batted far the hand of a woman who grabbed him in St Peter’s Square He had reached over a barrier to touch a child and had already turned to walk ahead when he was pulled back.
The visibly-shocked pontiff stumbled slightly as he moved back towards the barrier and appeared to be in some pain. He then scolded the woman verbally before punching her hand twice when she still refused to let go.
Security guards then moved in to pry the woman off him.
The woman had made the sign of the cross as the Pope walked towards her, and was trying to talk to him as she held his hand, although it is not clear what she was saying.
This evening after visiting the Nativity scene in St. Peter's Square, Pope Francis loses his cool after being grabbed by a pilgrim who wouldn't let go of his hand. The Pope repeated slapped her hand and told her to let go of him. pic.twitter.com/6Qrgh8aZKz
— Catholic Sat (@CatholicSat) December 31, 2019
The Pope has now apologised over the incident, saying he set a “bad example” to his millions of followers. “We lose patience many times,” Francis confessed. “It happens to me too. I apologise for the bad example given yesterday.” He was later filmed continuing to shake hands with worshippers and kissing the cheek of a baby gone to his guards by its mother.
At the New Year’s Eve evening service at St Peter’s Basilica, the Pope told the congregation to practice solidarity and to “build bridges, not walls”. On Christmas Eve, he said the light of Christmas should be allowed to counter the “darkness of human hearts”, mentioning in particular unrest in Ukraine, Venezuela, Syria, and a number of countries in Africa.
If you grab someone and yank them towards you like that, you deserve to get your hand smacked away. The people scolding Pope Francis for this are being ridiculous.
— Matt Walsh (@MattWalshBlog) January 1, 2020
pic.twitter.com/r3yTE2Ac2G
He also called for compassion for migrants forced by conflicts and economic hardship to “emigrate in the hope of a secure life”. He said that after perilous journeys, they are often “find themselves before walls of indifference” in places where “they might have hoped for a dignified life”.
The New Year’s incident is not the first time the Pope has rebuffed affection by the faithful. In March, he was filmed repeatedly pulling forward his hand as followers made to kiss his ring during a visit to Italy’s Holy House of Loreto basilica. Whitewashed ‘bad swimming pool design’ led to brits drowning in costa del sol, expert says help me, boris ayia napa teen begs pm to bring her home as she faces custody for physical force lie’ taken out us ends top iranian general in rocket strike as countries stand on brink of combat.
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Pool tragedy brit girl, 14, tells how she escaped loss as her family drowned in costa pool second chance at life two dads save 6 kids from foster home misery after five years in care vatican spokesman alessandro gisotti later explained the footage, saying: “The holy father told me that the motivation was very simple: hygiene. “He wants to avoid the risk of contagion for the people, not for him.”
This Article Was First Published On thesun.co.uk
