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'Unruly' young boy upstages Pope Francis

Mother tells the pope that the family came from his native Argentina to see him

Reuters November 28, 2018 Less than a minute read

A child that escaped from his mother touches a member of Swiss guard during the general audience led by Pope Francis at Paul VI hall at the Vatican. PHOTO REUTERS

VATICAN CITY: A young boy upstaged Pope Francis on Wednesday, escaping from his mother and running onto the papal podium at a general audience, tugging on the hand of a Swiss guardsman and playing behind the pontiff’s chair.

The boy’s mother briefly spoke to the pope as she tried to pull the child away, saying that he was mute. Pope Francis told her to let him carry on playing.

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“This child cannot speak. He is mute. But he can communicate,” the pope told hundreds of pilgrims. “And he has something that got me thinking: he is free. Unruly ... but he is free,” he added to laughter.

“Let’s ask the grace (of God) that he may speak.”

The mother told the pope that the family came from his native Argentina. As she left the stage, a smiling Francis leaned towards Bishop Georg Ganswein sitting next to him and whispered: “He is Argentinian. Undisciplined.”