The Pope has broken
yet another point of Vatican protocol by bowing when he met Queen Rania
of Jordan.
Pope Francis welcomes King of Jordan Abdullah II Ibn Hussein’s wife Rania at the Vatican. Photo: MAURIZIO BRAMBATTI /AFP
As head of state at the
Vatican, not to mention the leader of the world’s 1.2 billion catholics,
protocol requires visitors to bow to him when they meet him at the Holy
See.
But Francis, who has made the forgetting of formalities a trademark
of his papacy, bowed when he met a smiling Rania as she visited the
Vatican with her husband King Abdullah II on Thursday.
“Up until the 19th century visitors would kiss the pope’s shoes, and the tradition is still that all visitors, women included, bow to him, but Francis behaves as he did before he became pope and is not interested in protocol,” a senior Vatican official told The Daily Telegraph.
It is not the first time the Pope has eschewed formality when receiving visitors.
When Cristina Kirchner, Argentina’s president, met him in March, a day before his formal inauguration, he gave her a kiss after she presented him with a gourd for mate, the traditional Argentine tea.
TELEGRAPH UK
Short URL:
http://www.osundefender.org/?p=119020Pope Francis welcomes King of Jordan Abdullah II Ibn Hussein’s wife Rania at the Vatican. Photo: MAURIZIO BRAMBATTI /AFP
“Up until the 19th century visitors would kiss the pope’s shoes, and the tradition is still that all visitors, women included, bow to him, but Francis behaves as he did before he became pope and is not interested in protocol,” a senior Vatican official told The Daily Telegraph.
It is not the first time the Pope has eschewed formality when receiving visitors.
When Cristina Kirchner, Argentina’s president, met him in March, a day before his formal inauguration, he gave her a kiss after she presented him with a gourd for mate, the traditional Argentine tea.
TELEGRAPH UK
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