Disgruntled Pope Francis slaps hand of woman who grabs him; later apologizes

  • Thread starter Thread starter Maxirad
  • Start date Start date
Status
Not open for further replies.
First, I don’t believe the grabbing woman meant any harm but she was certainly out of bounds to grab as though at a rock concert. She withered under his look and slap. I feel sorry for her now the whole world will see. I feel her embarrassment.

It was dark and evidently cold based on how everyone is dressed. Pope Francis was probably feeling worn at the end of the day compounded by the scare of taking a spill.
 
angelboy63 said:
I’m wondering…would Jesus have done the same thing when the lepers and cripples would grab at him going through a crowd?
Click to expand...
To be fair, Our Lord and Savior was 50 years younger than Pope Francis and had both lungs.

Let’s be understanding.
 
HarryStotle said:
40.png
gracepoole:
Watching this made me physically sick. I would be crushed if I had been that woman. I did see, however, that the Holy Father attended a funeral today for a friend. I wonder if that impacted his mood.
Click to expand...
The other possibility is that he was physically in pain from the pull. Perhaps he has an arthritic condition (or similar) in his hand or shoulder that overcame him in the moment. Look at the video, his arm was pulled backward in an awkward position. Not to excuse but to explain his reaction.
Click to expand...
If he would have lost his balance and fallen from being tugged so forcefully he could have been injured. Perhaps it scared him and he thought he would fall
so he scolded her in the first way that came to his mind.

I do feel sorry for the woman, but she shouldn’t have grabbed him and yanked
him either. I don’t know why the bodyguards did not intervene sooner.

It was a humiliating moment for both the woman and the Pope. I wish they both
had behaved differently.
 
The hemorrhaging woman is one my favorite Gospel readings. Jesus wanted to know who touched him. This always gets me. “Who touched me?” He wants to know.
 
mrsdizzyd said:
40.png
Rhubarb:
You don’t touch people without their consent. Even a Pope. And you don’t grab old people and jerk on them.

I don’t see why the Pope’s reaction is seen as anything but appropriate.
Click to expand...
Amen!

The pope is an old man with a bad back and bad balance. He was obviously pained. She could have seriously hurt him had she pulled him over. 😡
Click to expand...
Still his reaction wasn’t particularly “appropriate.” He could have winced, fallen to his knees in pain, or simply stopped and cried out. Slapping at the woman isn’t at all “appropriate,” although it might be understandable.

Any of us might have done the same, but I don’t think we would claim such a response to be appropriate. The proper response would be to apologize for hitting out. That is what I taught my children to do when they struck out in reaction to something they didn’t expect.

The Pope was reacting in an all too human way, and he should apologize for striking out. It wasn’t appropriate, although we have all been in a similar situation and may have reacted better or worse at different times. Still not appropriate.
 
What is worse?
Living under the magnifying glass of our tech age world.
(Please Note: This uploaded content is no longer available.)
More often than not, we are privy to way too much.
…making judgements we shouldn’t.
 
Last edited:
I was taught to defend myself against unwanted touching, grabbing, hitting, etc.

Pope Francis may issue an apology or he may not. I can see how he might be justified in either instance. We are not required to apologize for defending ourselves.
 
Donkey said:
What is worse?
Living under the magnifying glass of our tech age world.
(Please Note: This uploaded content is no longer available.)
More often than not, we are privy to way too much.
…making judgements we shouldn’t.
Click to expand...
One of my first thoughts when first seeing the clip was, “Wow, I wish I lived in a time when we didn’t have 24/7 media capturing everything.” Some things you just don’t need to see.
 
Last edited:
I can’t go anywhere without considering the fact that a camera is taking my picture! I have read of creeps even putting cameras in public bathrooms…illegal but happens. There must be psychological studies on what this is doing to the human psyche.
 
Donkey said:
I can’t go anywhere without considering the fact that a camera is taking my picture! I have read of creeps even putting cameras in public bathrooms…illegal but happens. There must be psychological studies on what this is doing to the human psyche.
Click to expand...
Recently a man was arrested nearby for placing cameras in the bathrooms at the piano teaching shop he owned. Truly horrifying.
 
Someone put a camera in a hospital lobby restroom.

The point is that tech users can and do exploit privacy.

Unfortunately, it doesn’t look like this abuse is going away anytime soon.
 
If he has arthritis in his hands or something similar, or if she was holding his hand in a way that caused pain-- she had hold of him tightly and pulled him back to her-- he may have been slapping at her hand to get her to let go and and stop hurting him.
 
Last edited:
That was a heck of a pull from that woman. That yank goes way beyond a normal interaction with somebody. It was actually kind of scary. I’m not surprised by his reaction. Better security is needed.

Like others have wondered, it would be nice to know what was said between the woman and Pope Francis. There maybe more going on here.
 
Last edited:
Something I noticed for the first time, just imagine, you are waiting on the Holy Father, he is shaking hands the way down the line but when he comes to where he’d shake your hand, he turns to walk away. I seem to have seen this in even a longer video than in #34 above, it looks like the Holy Father touches hands with mainly 3 or 4 children… then, he turns away and the Asian-looking woman sort of grabs him and that is what was upsetting to the Pontiff. Maybe she couldn’t help herself. She also blesses herself shortly before the Pope arrives to where she is. See it below:

https://twitter.com/x/status/1212282534274441217

They probably just got their signals crossed, she was probably a bit star-stuck. Poor lady, awkward all the way around. She blesses herself, she may well be devout. Vietnamese I am thinking. She seems embarrassed, I’m embarrassed for her. Maybe she traveled halfway around the world to see him. No big deal, things happen.
 
Last edited:
It’s nice to see him respond with humility.
I think his security needs to step up a little faster to intervene in these types of encounters.
 
Last edited:
This thread is on the story of the Pope’s apology.
I’m sure the moderator can merge it if they think necessary.
 
Last edited:
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top