Pope Francis is in the headlines again. He slapped a female devotee's hand, stepped on a speedball apology then went into a quick denunciation of “every form of violence against women.”
Francis had just greeted children before the Nativity scene on Saint Peter's Square on New Year's Eve and was turning away when a woman, who made the sign of the Cross then cried out something not picked up by media, pulled his right hand which nearly caused the 83-year-old Pontiff to trip over.
It might have been a lapse in security precautions. But the Pope has always been known to enjoy greeting the public, not the least having a reputation for speaking his mind and a forthrightly determined temperament.
The hand-slapping incident, as the Pope walked by the Catholic faithful, immediately went viral on social media. But as quick was his personal apology for losing patience with the worshipper before using his New Year's Day address to denounce violence against women.
The Pope said, in the first Mass of 2020, “Love makes us patient. So many times we lose patience, even me, and I apologize for yesterday's bad example…Women are sources of life. Yet they are continually insulted, beaten, raped, forced to prostitute themselves and to suppress the life they bear in the womb.
“Every form of violence inflicted upon a woman is a blasphemy against God, who was born of a woman.”
The Pope had rightly noted that the service traditionally celebrates the life of Mary, “the woman who wove the humanity of God,” and the blessing of God for all was “not magic but requires patience, patience, and love.”
Some may describe the Pope's apology as a mere publicity stunt—he had previously thought the Church should not only apologize to a gay person it has offended, but to the poor, the women who have been exploited, the children who have been used by (being forced to) work but also for having blessed so many weapons.
We take the view that the Pope's forthrightness in apologizing demonstrated the strength of his character as the leader of the faith and of the Christian flock.
