Pope slaps woman’s hand to free himself from her grip

She was out of line but so was his reaction

I certainly hope he cheered up.

On the one hand (no pun intended) at first glance, it did make him look like a grumpy old man, but the more you think about it, there’s no way he could second guess what her intentions were. Previous Popes have had situations that didn’t end well.

He's 83, an old man. And like many old men he's probably got arthritis in his hands. In the video you can see him grimace at the moment his hand is grabbed. I think that was pain, more than alarm. She obviously gripped it hard, in order to pull him back, and that would have hurt like shit, (or in his case, Holy shit).

If I recall my Sunday School lessons, even The Man himself got pissed off with people sometimes. And he definitely felt pain. I think people who scoff at the Pope, saying that the religious facade of the Papacy drops very easily, ought to remember that Popes never say they're angels or free from all human failings. Even JC never tried to pretend that.

Here endeth the lesson... ;)

I don't blame him
He's frail and she appeared loony

He did nothing wrong. His reaction was perfectly normal. It could even be considered self defense.

She's lucky the Guardia didn't see her first. You could hear the Pope yelling "Let go of me!".