Pope surprises faithful with a walkabout

It was enough to send security into a tail spin when the new Pope opted for an impromptu walkabout outside the Church where he yesterday celebrated Sunday Mass.

Like a local parish priest, he greeted parishioners outside St Anna’s, the parish church of Vatican City, planting a few kisses on the foreheads’ of children, and allowing others to kiss him and shake hands in turn.

The Mass he had earlier celebrated included a reading from the Gospel according to St John, in which the woman caught in adultery and subject under law to death by stoning, is presented to Jesus for judgment. The Pope later told the gathering in St Peter’s Square that “we are all sinners” and that we are all at the mercy of God.