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Starstruck nuns mob Pope Francis


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BarbTherese

It's not only the joyful startle in Pope Francis's eyes - it's that voice in the background shouting what seemed to me like "No! No! No!" not only to discourage their happy crowding of the Holy Father, but because it was an absolute break in decorum for enclosed nuns and so very disturbing to the poor man.  That poor man in the background was so upset, not that it did him much good.

LOL - thank you very much for sharing, nunsense!  A Joy!

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Full text of the article is below and more pictures at  http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/the-pope/11488383/They-are-going-to-eat-him-nuns-stun-Pope.html

'They are going to eat him!': nuns stun Pope

Pope Francis is mobbed in Naples by a superfluity of overexcited nuns

Pope Francis was mobbed by a group of overexcited nuns, let out from their convents during his visit to Naples.

The nuns had to be reined in by the Archibishop of Naples after swarming the pontiff, to his evident bemusement, and showering him with gifts and greetings.

Cardinal Crescenzio Sepe could be heard through the microphone urging restraint and making lighthearted commentary in a Neapolitan accent.

“Sisters . . . Later. . . . well would you look at that. And these are the cloistered ones. Just imagine the non-cloistered ones,” he said, provoking laughter among the crowd gathered in the cathedral.

“They are going to eat him! Sisters . . sisters!”

Cloistered nuns observe rules of "papal enclosure" and rarely leave their nunneries, receiving visitors through a grill.

The pope was holding an event in Naples cathedral to meet priests, religious leaders and seminarians in the Naples cathedral on his one-day visit to the city.

He also toured some of Naples' poorest, most crime-infested quarters, the heartlands of the city's mafia.

Hundreds of thousands gathered in the streets to welcome him, but few got as close as a group of nuns who had been given special permission to leave seven different closed convents in Naples to attend the Pope’s cathedral visit.

After their presence was announced, the starstruck sisters broke into applause and waved excitedly from the basilica's side wing, then a half dozen of them scurried up close, surrounding the pontiff in their long black religious habits. One carried a large wrapped present.

Pope Francis smiled as staff and security personnel tried to restrain the nuns.

Their exuberance, however, set the tone for Pope Francis’s off-the-cuff remarks on priestly life, in which he urged religious leaders to live their convocation with joy and enthusiasm.

At the end of the visit, Pope Francis held and kissed the vial containing the dried blood of Naples patron saint Januarius, which Cardinal Sepe then declared had partly liquified. Pope Francis joked that since the blood had only partly liquefied, they must all do more to win the saint’s full affection and spread the Gospel.

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Sr Mary Catharine OP

I actually wish this story would go away! It's not as extreme as all the media is making it when you watch the video! I don't blame the nuns for taking things into their own hands! If they had asked to bring something to the Pope the answer would have been NO! so they just decided to make a run for it. He sure does look surprised, though!

Gives me some ideas for when the Pope comes to NYC in September! Hmmm!

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truthfinder

Love the red and white habits  (the Pope's "whites" aren't too shabby either!)

​Those would be Sisters of Perpetual Adoration (not to be confused with the better known PCPAs), and it looks like the nuns actually doing the mobbing are Passionists. 

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IgnatiusofLoyola

​Those would be Sisters of Perpetual Adoration (not to be confused with the better known PCPAs), and it looks like the nuns actually doing the mobbing are Passionists.

​Thanks! I was wondering about the various habits. However, on second viewing, the nuns who presented the Pope with a gift look to me like they have dark brown habits and black veils. I thought the Passionists wore black habits (but as always, I could be wrong, plus colors don't always show up accurately on computers).

The gentleman worrying about the enthusiastic nuns was kind of humorous--but I also felt a little bad for him. Obviously, cloistered nuns are among the groups of people LEAST likely to hurt Pope Francis. Unfortunately, one very sad result of today's climate of terrorism is that, strictly from the point of view of providing the Pope with the maximum security possible, the traditional habit of a cloistered nun, with its pockets and layers of material, could be seen as having lots of places to conceal explosives, however absurd that idea is in reality. I suspect that the worried gentleman could have been part of the Pope's security detail, and at the moment the nuns approached the Pope, the gentleman probably wished that Pope Francis could have a perpetual "bubble" around him.

Obviously the Pope was taken by surprise. But, especially as Pope Francis looks back at this in the future, I think it could become one of his favorite memories of the spontaneous love and affection he experienced as Pope.

The tape also shows that the stereotypes held by some that cloistered nuns are unemotional and unable to be joyful and excited are completely wrong. The joy of these nuns at being so close to the Pope was wonderful! And, even though Pope Francis was obviously surrounded by security, there is something in the Pope's face that is very welcoming and makes him seem approachable, despite his status as Pope. I suspect Jesus might have been greeted by groups of his followers in a similar way when he visited their towns.

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IgnatiusofLoyola

I watched the video again, and this time the nuns DID look like Passionists. It was really only one nun whose habit didn't look completely black, and that could be because her habit had faded a bit in color. The habits of the other nuns with her did look completely black. Also, the veil of the Passionists is pretty distinctive, and the veils did look like Passionist veils. Perhaps there are other videos that make it more clear that these nuns are Passionists.

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The tape also shows that the stereotypes held by some that cloistered nuns are unemotional and unable to be joyful and excited are completely wrong. The joy of these nuns at being so close to the Pope was wonderful! And, even though Pope Francis was obviously surrounded by security, there is something in the Pope's face that is very welcoming and makes him seem approachable, despite his status as Pope. I suspect Jesus might have been greeted by groups of his followers in a similar way when he visited their towns.

​Just to add some thoughts.  The bible is full of people doing everything they can to get near Jesus, climbing trees, pushing through crowds to touch the hem of His garment, interrupting His meal to cry all over His feet, letting a friend through a roof so Jesus might heal him, sitting by the road shouting out for Jesus to have pity on them even when others told them to shut it etc etc.  The silly media calls it being star struck but that's not it at all.  I had a chance to visit Rome when Papa Benny was still in town and when he went through St Peter's square to greet people in the popemobile EVERYONE wanted to see him to be close, to reach out to him its because the pope is in the line of Peter and the Holy Spirit rests on him and draws people close. 

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truthfinder

​Thanks! I was wondering about the various habits. However, on second viewing, the nuns who presented the Pope with a gift look to me like they have dark brown habits and black veils. I thought the Passionists wore black habits (but as always, I could be wrong, plus colors don't always show up accurately on computers).

 

​It's kind of a blur, but you can also see that they're all wearing the very distinctive white Passionist insignia.  

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  • 3 months later...

Red on white is often Sisters Adorers of the Precious Blood.

http://www.sisterspreciousblood.org/sisters-13.htm

http://www.sisterspreciousblood.org/pdfs/Jan15_2015_echoes.pdf

So glad that this fine community is getting new vocations; it appears that many of them are from Vietnam and perhaps the Philippines.

 

Edited by Yaatee
word, punct
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It's kind of a blur, but you can also see that they're all wearing the very distinctive white Passionist insignia.  

Agree. They are Passionist nuns.

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