A light-hearted interaction took place between a nun and Pope Francis, who asked the octogenarian Pope for a kiss. The interaction comes almost a week after a disgruntled Pope slapped a woman's hands, who yanked him towards her, on New Year's eve.
'Don't Bite,' Pope tells nun, drawing laughter from the crowd
The interaction took place at the start of Pope's weekly general audience, Reuters reported. While he was walking through the hall, packed with thousands of people, a visibly excited nun asked if he would kiss her. "Bacio, Papa!" (A kiss, pope!), she shouted in Italian.
Pope responded light-heartedly and said, "Oh, (but) you bite!", drawing laughter from the crowd. Then he said, "Stay calm! I will give you a kiss but you stay calm. Don't bite!". The nun responded "Si", which means "Yes" in Italian. He then kissed her on the right cheek, leaving her even more elated.
Pope slapped a woman's hands, on New Year's eve
The warm interaction took place a week after, a visibly irritated Pope slapped a woman's hands, on New Year's eve at St Peters Square. The incident went viral, drawing widespread criticism for the Pope's behaviour.
While he was visiting the Nativity Scene and interacting with the visitors, suddenly, a woman grabbed the 83-year-old Pope's hand and pulled him towards her, appearing to have caused him some pain. The visibly shocked pontiff, then angrily shouted at her, slapped the woman's hands and wrenched his hands-free. He then walks away, looking disgruntled.
The incident drew criticism, for both the Pope and the woman's behaviour. "We lose patience many times", the Pope later confessed. "It happens to me too. I apologize for the bad example given yesterday," the head of the Catholic church said before celebrating Mass at the Vatican, on New Year's Day. In a speech, the same day, Pope Francis decried violence against women and compared it to profaning God. He claimed that women should be treated with dignity for a better world in the new year.
