Pope Francis returns to the faithful after the end-of-year incident, spending a long time with the pilgrims gathered in the Paul VI Hall for the general audience. On December 31, after the traditional Te Deum, the Pontiff, while greeting the faithful waiting for him around the nativity scene in St. Peter's Square, was jostled by an Asian woman and nearly lost his balance and fell. The image of his reaction—a light slap on the woman's hand to free himself, his expression displeased—went around the world. The next day, at the Angelus, the Pope apologized for the "bad example," admitting he had lost his patience. Today, upon arriving in the audience hall, Jorge Mario Bergoglio, as usual, walked from the entrance to the stage, stopping to greet, bless, and speak with the many faithful who had called on him. Behind him, the commander of the gendarmes, Gianluca Gauzzi Broccoletti, kept watch over the hands reaching out to the Pope. Among the faithful, an overly enthusiastic African nun raised eyebrows, raising the Pope's eyebrows. Francis, evidently mindful of the risk of falling, resorted to humor and said to the nun: "I'm scared! You're going to bite! I'll kiss you, but don't worry, don't bite!" He then embraced the enthusiastic nun.
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