Why does not the pope let them kiss his ring?

"The holy father told me that it was for a very simple reason: hygiene.When there are long lines of faithful, we must avoid the risk of contagion, not for him, but for the people ". Alessandro Guisotti, the acting spokesman of the Holy See, spoke with the press.

"He said that he liked to hug and be close to people, but he feared that everyone would get sick." You can see how many people are kissing the hand, as you have seen in the pictures, "Gisotti told reporters." He told me that it was the reason and that it was n & # 39; It did not happen, as everyone could see, when there is a very small person or group, "he added, pointing out that yesterday, during the hearing General, an elderly, missionary nun, had greeted him. He kissed her hand very affectionately.

Francisco actually enjoys direct contact with the faithful, he squeezes hundreds of hands every week, he lets himself be kissed, he takes selfies, he accepts to drink his partner and he usually speaks to people. His almost abrupt reaction to the kiss in the ring prompted many interpretations, because later, in another room of the sanctuary, the video shows the pope while greeting dozens of Capuchins and nuns, some shaking hands, some pontifical ring .

The images have been used by the ultra-conservative sectors that usually attack Francisco, who accuses him in his blogs of being rude and "not being able to be the vicar of Christ". The pontiff's protocol usually asks visitors to avoid genuflections, old formalities that like little. The ring in question is not the "golden ring of the fisherman" that the pontiffs usually wear as a symbol of papal power, but the ring that he received during his episcopal ordination in 1992 in Buenos Aires, according to the Catholic newspaper La Croix.