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  • 2019-03-27 (xsd:date)
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  • Did Pope Francis Prevent People from Kissing His Ring? (en)
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  • Pope Francis has been the subject of a few fake videos over the years. In 2015, for example, a humorous clip showing the pope performing the tablecloth magic trick was produced for The Ellen DeGeneres Show. A similarly fake video was created for The Jimmy Kimmel Show in 2017, that one showing the pope repeatedly slap away President Donald Trump's hand. So when a video of Pope Francis withdrawing his hand from a line of people as they attempted to kiss the papal ring went viral in March 2019 (promoted by some of the same comedians who created their own pope hoaxes), some viewers were unsure of the video's authenticity: But this was a genuine video of Pope Francis. It was filmed during his visit to Loreto, Italy, on 25 March 2019 and captured the pope greeting parishioners at the end of a service. But why was the pope withdrawing his hands? The viral clip drew a number of theories. Some viewers hypothesized that the issue had to do with spreading germs, while others claimed it had more to do with Catholic tradition and the symbolism of kissing a person's ring. The viral clip shows about one minute of a greeting session in which the pope met with more than 100 monks, nuns, and parishioners. According to BBC News, these people were not given instructions on how to greet the pontiff, and while many simply shook his hands, others attempted to kiss his ring: Eventually, the pope started to withdraw his hands as people attempted to kiss his ring. Christopher Bellitto, a medieval church history scholar and professor at Kean University, and John Allen, a Vatican journalist, told the Washington Post that while kissing the pope's ring was once common practice, both the Church and Pope Francis have started to move away from symbols of subservience: Eric Sundrup of America magazine noted that Popes John Paul II and Benedict XVI were also resistant towards having parishioners kiss the papal ring: While kissing the papal ring may be going out of fashion, Vatican spokesman Alessandro Gisotti spoke with reporters a few days after the video went viral and said that the pope withdrew his hands from some parishioners because he wanted to avoid the risk of contagion for the people: It should also be noted that Pope Francis continued to greet parishioners after the events depicted in the viral clip. In addition to meeting a few more people in the church, the pope also met with a number of people after the service outside of the cathedral. The entire service (and post service greetings) can be viewed in the video below. The pope starts shaking hands with nuns, bishops, and other parishioners inside the church around the 1:03:30 mark: (en)
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