Pope Francis He blames intrusive woman with a pat

Unusual incident on St. Peter's Square in Rome: when a believer apparently pulls Pope Francis too tightly, he has to put his hand away.

A recent clip by Pope Francis (83) is currently causing a stir on social media. The head of the Roman Catholic Church is considered a "Pope to touch", but when he greeted the faithful on St. Peter's Square on Tuesday evening, he had to defend himself against a woman.

The Pope apologizes
The recording of the incident shows how the Pope is turning away from the waiting people and apparently wants to leave. A woman takes his hand and pulls Francis to him with what appears to be a firm jerk. The 83-year-old grimaces, he seems to be in pain. When the woman does not want to let go of his hand, Francis strikes back with a pat on the back of the faithful. Finally his bodyguards intervene.

When Francis turned to the faithful on New Year's Day, he also briefly mentioned the incident from the previous evening. The Pope said that everyone could lose patience - including him. He also apologized for "the bad example" he had given in the situation.