‘Don’t bite,’ Pope jokes as he kisses nun at his first audience since he slapped a female worshipper
- Pope Francis entered the Vatican auditorium at the start of his weekly general audience, earlier today
- He told an excitable nun, who grabbed his hand, ‘I’ll give you a kiss, but you must stay calm. Don’t bite!’
- The diminutive nun promised before he kissed her on the right cheek, leaving her more ecstatic than before
- It comes a week after he confessed he ‘lost patience’ for slapping a woman for grabbing him on New Years Eve
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Pope Francis warned an excitable nun ‘don’t bite!’ at his first audience since he slapped a female worshipper on New Years Eve.
Footage shows the pope greeting devotees as he enters the Vatican auditorium at the start of his weekly general audience, earlier today.
An overly enthusiastic pilgrim, who had been shouting ‘long live the pope!’, then leans forward and tries to grab his hand.
Pope Francis joked with a nun during his first audience since he slapped a female worshipper. He told the pilgrim who reached out for his hand: ‘I’ll give you a kiss, but you must stay calm. Don’t bite!’
The excitable nun appeared to shout ‘bacio, Papa!’ translating to ‘a kiss, pope!’ and he joked ‘Oh, (but) you bite!’, prompting laughter from the people near them.
He then responded: ‘I’ll give you a kiss, but you must stay calm. Don’t bite!’
The diminutive nun promised, saying ‘Si’ and held her arms wide to encourage the pope to embrace.
The 83-year old Argentinian then bent to plant a kiss her on the cheek, sparking cheers from fellow worshippers in the crowd.
She appeared to shout appeared to shout ‘bacio, Papa!’ translating to ‘a kiss, pope!’ in the Vatican auditorium at the start of his weekly general audience, earlier today
Seconds later, she squealed ‘grazie, Papa’ and jumped up and down.
It was the pope’s first walkabout among the faithful since a pilgrim grasped his arm and tugged him towards her on New Year’s Eve, prompting him to angrily swat her away in images that went viral on social media.
‘We lose patience many times,’ Francis confessed.
It comes a week after he confessed he ‘lost patience’ with an exuberant admirer who had grabbed his hand on Saint Peter’s Square, and gave her a slap on the hand
He then proceeded to bend down and plant a kiss on her cheek. The nun jumped up and down shouting ‘grazie, Papa’
‘It happens to me too. I apologise for the bad example given yesterday,’ the head of the Catholic church said before celebrating Mass at the Vatican, the following day.
He had reached to touch a child before turning away and a woman seized his hand and pulled her towards him.
He then continued to greet the worshippers with a grin spread across his face. He appeared amused and in better spirits than January 1 where his face was like thunder while greeting a crowd of devotees
The abrupt gesture appeared to cause him pain and Francis swiftly wrenched his hand free during the appearance in St Peter’s Square.
Pope Francis decried violence against women in a speech at the Vatican on New Years Day and compared it to profaning God.
He claimed that women should be treated with dignity for a better world in the new year.
A furious Pope Francis was then pictured slapping the woman’s hand and fighting to release himself from her grip. He had reached to touch a child before turning away and being grabbed by the woman, on New Years Eve
He added that involving women in decision-making is key to making humanity more peaceful and united.
In his homily during Mass in St. Peter’s Basilica, Francis decried ‘how many times women’s bodies are sacrificed on the profane altar of advertisements, of profit, of pornography.’
He lamented that while women are in his words ‘the sources of life,’ they are continually offended, beaten, raped, forced into prostitution’ or forced to have abortions.