His Holiness Pope Francis had been greeting pilgrims when he admonished a woman and slapped her hand after she grabbed his hand and pulled him towards her. The video became viral, reports Tabassum. An exclusive for Different Truths.

“Sometimes, “I told him, as the darkness swirled closer and closer, “you just have to say you’re sorry.”
It’s more than that, and I think by then I knew it. It’s more than saying sorry.
It’s meaning it. It’s letting the apology change things. But an apology is where it has to begin.”
~ Neil Gaiman, MirrorMask

His Holiness Pope Francis has shown his displeasure towards a visitor in St Peter’s Square on this New Year’s Eve.

He had been greeting pilgrims when he admonished a woman and slapped her hand after she grabbed his hand and pulled him towards her. The video became viral. There were mixed reactions. Some people even dubbed it as the New Year’s best meme.

Let’s look at the video:

 https://www.nytimes.com/2020/01/01/world/europe/pope-francis-slap-video.html

Pope Francis can be seen reaching into the crowd and seeking the hands of children. As he turns away, a woman in the crowd grabs his right hand with both of her hands and yanks the 83-year-old Pope back, causing him to lose his balance momentarily.

Let’s try to be neutral. I have watched the video a couple of times. Note that Pope Francis can be seen reaching into the crowd and seeking the hands of children. As he turns away, a woman in the crowd grabs his right hand with both of her hands and yanks the 83-year-old Pope back, causing him to lose his balance momentarily. The woman would not let go, and in a gesture that appeared to cause him pain, he slapped at her hand before pulling his hand free. At one point, it looked like a strong shaking his hands.  The woman looks quite aggressive and rude to me. She could have waved or made a gesture to catch the eyes of the Pope.  So, the Pope could bless her. Forget about the Pope. Just imagine someone at the age of 83 years old his hand is clutched by a stranger and then the stranger dragged the 83 years old towards him or her. Don’t forget to think of the chilly weather. I find the Pope’s action as a reflex action. Any common one would have done the same, probably. But the Pope is not a common one or person.

In his traditional New Year First Day homily remarks, the pontiff offered an apology as he ruminated on patience and how it conquers “iniquity and power.”

“Many times, we lose our patience,” he said. “I do, too, and I’m sorry for yesterday’s bad example.”

He also condemned violence against women and consumerism based on their bodies.

He also condemned violence against women and consumerism based on their

bodies. Francis went on to describe violence against women as “a blasphemy against God.” Despite being the source of life, women “are continually insulted, beaten, raped, forced to prostitute themselves and to suppress the life they bear in the womb.

“Every form of violence inflicted upon a woman is a blasphemy against God, who was born of a woman. Humanity’s salvation came forth from the body of a woman: We can understand our degree of humanity by how we treat a woman’s body.”

It is indeed a praiseworthy lesson to be learned. It was quick and came in less than 24 hours. The incident was just a whiff in the social media and not severe and controversial sex scandal issues of the Roman Catholic Church.

It is indeed a praiseworthy lesson to be learned. It was quick and came in less than 24 hours. The incident was just a whiff in the social media and not severe and controversial sex scandal issues of the Roman Catholic Church. So, he could have easily ignored the social media reaction. The statement seemed like a more real and not crafted by a PR specialist or a Spin-Doctor. The Pope’s comment was associated with violence against women. So, the Pope’s apology felt like it came from the heart. The Pope’s apology is unequivocal. There was no attempt to excuse or diminish the wrongdoing. He merely acknowledged his human fallibility, and there was no tone of authority, power or pride in the apology.

Forget about our political leaders. Do we get a prompt apology from our community leaders or corporate leaders or public celebrities?

How about our leaders? Forget about our political leaders. Do we get a prompt apology from our community leaders or corporate leaders or public celebrities? In this relation, I would like to refer to my first column in Different Truths on 13^th November 2019 titled ‘The show must go on-whose life it is anyway’. The column was about a boy, Nayeemul Abrar who was electrocuted during a program organised by Bangladesh’s highest circulated daily newspaper Prothom-Alo juvenile Kishor-Alo. The organisers did not notify the parents. They took him to a faraway sponsor hospital instead of a hospital which was just opposite to the spot. After he was pronounced dead, they concealed the news from parents and continued the show for the best interest of the sponsors. It was gravely inhumane and negligence from Prothom-Alo. It became viral in social media. As of today, there is still no public apology from Prothom–Alo when this column was written. Now, Nayeemul is lost among countless viral issues in the social media.

A deserved apology is not outstanding because it is normal. The problem lies within us. Do we teach the concept and the importance of apology in our schools? How many parents guide to say a proper sorry and not just to say sorry for etiquette. Some countries still decline to issue a formal public apology for genocide, atrocities during the war, or slaughtering during the occupation and colonial rule.  We are not used to the apology. Our leaders, public figures tend to think that apology will make them look weak and feeble. When PR strategists and spin-doctors come with the suggestion that “apology is the grasping straw”, then they do apologize for survival and immediate damage control. Sometimes the way they apologize it makes us feel that they are trying to let the wrongdoer or themselves go off the hook by implying that the victim had mistakenly detected offence in what was clearly an innocent act.

If the past apologies from the government and public figures are a string of bogus apologies, we can indeed say that the Pope has set a precedent

In the face of such evasion, it’s enticing to assume that public figures, our governments, institutions aren’t genuinely sorry for their actions. They display feign regret to squirm out of trouble and to maintain their public image. But seeing Pope’s apology at the beginning of the New Year, a more optimistic stance seems necessary. If the past apologies from the government and public figures are a string of bogus apologies, we can indeed say that the Pope has set a precedent for a new time where public apologies are heartfelt, not laughably hollow and shallow.

Photos sourced by the author