Saturday, 31 August 2013
The Pope has once again shown his willingness to break with tradition by giving a welcome bow to Muslim royal Queen Rania of Jordan.
Being the leader of the world's 1.2billion-strong Catholic community, protocol usually demands that visitors bow to him when they meet him at the Vatican.
But when Queen Rania came to the Holy See with her husband King Abdullah II on Thursday, he inverted that formality by lowering his head to her.
He made no discernible bow toward her husband, the king. The Jordanian royals were leaving following a private audience with the pope in his library.
'Francis behaves as he did before he became Pope and is not interested in protocol', a senior Vatican official said.
Up until the 19th century, those meeting the pope stoop to kiss his slippers and, to this day, the tradition remains that all visitors, including women, bow to him, the official said.
The surprise move came after Pope Francis showed he is well in touch with what's popular in society today by posing for a 'selfie' with young Italian pilgrims in St Peter's Basilica, Vatican City.
