Pope Francis Apologizes for Slapping a Woman’s Hand, But Memes Are Still Here

Pope Francis has apologized after slapping the hand of a woman who wouldn’t let go of him, and the memes are already rolling in.

It happened on New Year’s Eve as the pope was greeting a crowd of people in Vatican City. One rather eager woman grabbed his hand, yanked him toward herself, and clutched onto him.

The pope responded by swatting at her before she let go.

Frankly, he looked pretty upset about the whole thing.

The video immediately spread all over the world, with people eager to weigh in on whether the pope was right to respond as he did or if he had overreacted. Or if this means we should all feel free to slap people.

In any case, Pope Francis apologized for the now-viral moment on Wednesday before celebrating Mass.

“We lose patience many times,” he said, according to CBS. “It happens to me too. I apologize for the bad example given yesterday.”

While the Vatican probably now considers the matter laid to rest, the internet is not done making memes and jokes about the slap-happy pope.

Check the memes out 🙂