On Wednesday, Pope Francis apologized for a controversial interaction he had with a woman in St. Peter’s Square on New Year’s Eve.
While walking toward the Vatican’s nativity scene, a worshipper from behind a barrier grabbed the Pope and sharply yanked him toward her. When the woman would not let go of the Pope’s hand, the 83-year-old smacked her hand away and continued his walk, looking visibly upset.
It’s unclear what the woman, who remains unidentified, said to the Pope when she pulled him toward her.
As noted by USA Today, Pope Francis addressed the interaction while expressing his New Year’s wishes at St. Peter’s Square, the following day.
“So many times we lose patience. Me, too,” he said, according to The Associated Press. “I say ‘excuse me’ for the bad example.”
The reactions to the interaction from Tuesday were mixed online. Some folks took issue with the Holy Father losing his cool, while others sympathized with the his reaction, given the woman’s sharp yanking of the 83-year-old.
WATCH:
Disgruntled Pope Francis pulls himself free from a woman's clutch in Vatican City https://t.co/2nap3R0iQ4 pic.twitter.com/f87A9belnn
— Reuters (@Reuters) December 31, 2019
As noted by The Daily Wire, Pope Francis made headlines last week when he advised Catholic high school students on how to reach nonbelievers, stressing that Christians should live their faith out loud rather than trying to coerce people to convert, invoking the crusades in the discussion.
“In front of an unbeliever, the last thing I have to do is try to convince him. Never. The last thing I have to do is speak,” the pontiff said, according to Disrn. Instead, he stressed, “I have to live consistent with my faith. And it will be my testimony to awaken the curiosity of the other who says: ‘But why do you do this?’ And yes, I can speak then.”
“Never, never bring the gospel by proselytizing,” he added. “If someone says they are a disciple of Jesus and comes to you with proselytism, they are not a disciple of Jesus.”
“We are not in the times of the crusades,” the Pope continued. “… ‘Either the baptism or the sword.’ This has happened in history! They also do it with us Christians in other parts, they are also doing it but what we did was shameful because it is a story of forced conversion, of not respecting the dignity of the person.”
The Holy Father also discussed how he came to understand the principle of “coexistence,” from his time in Argentina.
“There is a mixture of blood, a strong mixed race in Argentina — I am the son of a migrant, and this has made a culture of coexistence,” he explained. “I went to public school and we always had companions from other religions. We were educated to coexist: ‘There is a Jew, Russian, ah — come, come! I am a friend of Russian!’ They said Russian because the majority of the Jews came from Odessa, some from Poland but the majority from Odessa. Then there were some Arabs, Lebanese, Syrians — ‘Ah, Turkish! Come, come!’ This was Muslim, this was Jewish. But we all played football together, we were all friends.