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Pope Francis Apologizes After Slapping Away Hand Of Woman Grabbing His Arm

“So many times we lose patience. Me, too.”

Pope Francis has apologized after he slapped a woman’s hand after she yanked his arm.

On Wednesday (Jan. 1), the Pope confessed to losing his patience when a woman aggressively grabbed his hand from behind a barrier, yanking him towards her just after he reached out to greet a child during a visit to the Vatican’s nativity scene on Tuesday (Dec. 31) night, Fox News reports.

RELATED: Obama Says Pope Is ‘Shaking Us Out of Complacency’

He told the thousands gathered in Rome's St. Peter’s Square on the first day of the year that he had lost his patience, Reuters reports.

“So many times we lose patience. Even me. And I apologize for yesterday’s bad example,” the Pope said in his impromptu remarks, Reuters reports.

The 83-year-old Pope used the annual mass at St. Peter’s Basilica to address the forthright condemnation of the abuse of women, Reuters reports. 

“Women are sources of life, yet they are continually offended,” the Pope said, Reuters reports. “... all violence inflicted on women is the desecration of God.”

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