Pope Francis apologizes after slapping woman’s hand who grabbed him in St. Peter’s Square

Pope Francis apologized Wednesday for smacking the hand of a woman who yanked him towards her as he greeted a crowd in St. Peter’s Square.

Video from the New Year’s Eve incident showed Francis, 83, smiling and clasping hands with a group of people behind a barrier as he made his way towards the Vatican’s nativity scene. A woman crosses herself as the pope approaches her, and when he begins to turn away, she grabs his hand and pulls him sharply towards her.

Francis shouts something, swats her hand to break free and turns away frowning as his security moves to intervene. The woman has not been identified and it’s unclear what she said to Francis in the video.

During his New Year’s wishes to the public at St. Peter’s Square Wednesday, Francis apologized for losing his patience, the Associated Press reported.

“So many times we lose patience. Me, too.” he said. “I say ‘excuse me’ for the bad example.”

Prior to his apology, Francis delivered a homily at St. Peter’s Basilica denouncing “every form of violence” against women, according the Washington Post.

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Contributing: The Associated Press

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