Pope Francis inadvertently demonstrated his own fallibility during an address in St Peter’s Square when he mistakenly said the Italian word for “f**k”.
In the 12 months since he was elected, the Argentinean Pope, who worked with the poor in the slums of Buenos Aires being before made pontiff, has shown a healthy sense of humour and an unerring ability to connect with ordinary people.
But he accidentally went a little too far in using the language of the street after mispronouncing the word “caso”, which means example, as “cazzo” – Italian for f— or, in other contexts, cock.
“If each of us were to accumulate wealth not only for ourselves but to put at the service of others, in this f— [pause], in this case God’s providence would manifest itself in this gesture of solidarity,” he told a large crowd, delivering his ‘Angelus’ address from a window overlooking St Peter’s Square.
The 77-year-old Jesuit Pope corrected himself almost immediately after making the gaffe during the audience at the Vatican on Sunday, but it was posted by Italians on YouTube and other social media and has since spread round the world.
