The Pope made some news last night as he went about the Square shaking hands with the celebrants, his admirers. One woman was overtaken with enthusiasm and grabbed his hand, pulling him back towards her, and putting him off balance. She kept shaking his hand but he was angry and slapped her hand as he scolded her.

It was a bit of an NFL defense for an overly-exuberant woman, who definitely shouldn’t have grabbed him from her fenced-in area. However, he turned around and slapped her hand twice.

Grabbing the Pope is a Pope Nope. We all have our moments, even the Pope.

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. pic.twitter.com/r3yTE2Ac2G — Matt Walsh (@MattWalshBlog) January 1, 2020

HE APOLOGIZED

Today, he apologized for losing patience and setting a bad model. Then he spoke against violence towards women.

Pope Francis has used his New Year message to denounce violence against women, hours after slapping a woman’s hand to free himself from her grip. https://t.co/ULC8HoxWS9 pic.twitter.com/lWaf5tQmO8 — CNN International (@cnni) January 1, 2020

VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN

In his homily Wednesday in St. Peter’s Basilica, Francis decried the “many times women’s bodies are sacrificed on the profane altar of advertisements, of profit, of pornography.” He also lamented that women are ”continually offended, beaten, raped, forced into prostitution” or forced to have abortions.

He contended that if we want a better world in the new year, we should treat women with dignity.

Francis urged that women become ”fully associated” with decision-making in order to make the world more united and at peace.

“And if we want a better world, that is a house of peace and not a courtyard of war, may the dignity of every woman be at the heart of it,” Francis said. “Women are givers and mediators of peace, and should be fully associated with decision-making processes.”

He added: “For when women can transmit their gifts, the world finds itself more united and more in peace. So, a conquest for women is a conquest for the whole of humanity.”