Pope Francis tells aspiring priests to 'not be scared of tattoos' and to use them to encourage dialogue

Authored by independent.co.uk and submitted by ManiaforBeatles
image for Pope Francis tells aspiring priests to 'not be scared of tattoos' and to use them to encourage dialogue

1/50 21 March 2018 Kosovo's opposition lawmakers release a teargas canister inside the country's parliament in before a vote for an agreement to ratify or not a border demarcation deal signed in 2015 with Montenegro. AFP/Getty

2/50 20 March 2018 People carrying luggage leave the Russian Embassy in London and board a van bearing diplomatic plates. Dozens of people including adults with children arrived at the Russian embassy in the morning and then left carrying luggage in vehicles bearing diplomatic registration plates. Britain last week announced the expulsion of 23 Russian diplomats over the spy poisoning row, prompting a tit-for-tat response from Moscow. AFP/Getty

3/50 19 March 2018 The Soyuz MS-08 spacecraft is mounted on the launch pad at the Russian-leased Baikonur cosmodrome in Kazakhstan AFP/Getty

4/50 18 March 2018 President Vladimir Putin walks out of a voting booth at a polling station during Russia's presidential election in Moscow. AFP/Getty

5/50 17 March 2018 People take part in a pensioners protest to demand decent pensions in Barcelona. Thousands of people across the country took part in mass demonstrations called by main Spanish workers unions demanding rises of state pensions in accordance with the consumer price index AFP/Getty

6/50 16 March 2018 Russian President Vladimir Putin visits the Almazov National Medical Research Centre in Saint Petersburg. AFP/Getty

7/50 15 March 2018 Vladimir Putin chairs a meeting with members of the Security Council in Moscow. Reuters

8/50 14 March 2018 German Chancellor Angela Merkel is sworn in by the President of the German lower house during the government's swearing-in ceremony at the Bundestag in Berlin. Merkel, head of the Christian Democratic Party CDU, starts her fourth term as German chancellor, capping months of political uncertainty as she bartered with her rivals of the SPD to help govern Europe's top economy in a "grand coalition". AFP/Getty

9/50 13 March 2018 Nepali students of University of Dhaka light candles in memory of the victims of the US-Bangla aircraft crash in Nepal, Bangladesh. Reuters

10/50 12 March 2018 Rescuers work to save passengers from a plane crash at Kathmandu airport in Nepal. AP

11/50 11 March 2018 French President Emmanuel Macron and his wife Brigitte Macron pose for photographs as they visit the Taj Mahal. AFP/Getty

12/50 10 March 2018 France’s far-right party Front National (FN) president Marine Le Pen applauds former US President advisor Steve Bannon after his speech during the Front National party annual congress, in Lille, northern France. AFP/Getty

13/50 9 March 2018 A television screen showing pictures of US President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong-Un at a railway station in Seoul. AFP/Getty

14/50 8 March 2018 Protesters form triangles with their hands during a demonstration for women’s rights in Bilbao, Spain. Reuters

15/50 7 March 2018 A labourer works on a salt pan in the outskirts of the Nagaur district in the Indian state of Rajasthan ahead of International Women’s day. AFP/Getty

16/50 6 March 2018 Sri Lanka's army soldiers and police personnel stand near a vandalised building in Digana, a suburb of Kandy. Extremists Buddhist mobs swept through the town on Monday, burning at least 11 Muslim owned shops and homes. Sri Lanka's president declared a state of emergency Tuesday amid fears that anti-Muslim attacks in the central hill town could spread. AP

17/50 5 March 2018 Chinese President Xi Jinping arrives for the opening of the first session of the 13th National People's Congress (NPC) at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing. The NPC has over 3,000 delegates and is the world's largest parliament or legislative assembly though its function is largely as a formal seal of approval for the policies fixed by the leaders of the Chinese Communist Party. The NPC runs alongside the annual plenary meetings of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC), together known as 'Lianghui' or 'Two Meetings'. EPA

18/50 4 March 2018 Female protestor stands up with the words 'Berlusconi Sei Scaduto' written on her body, translating as 'Berlusconi, you’ve expired', as Silvio Berlusconi stands during voting of the political and regional elections in Milan, Italy. Rex

19/50 3 March 2018 Russian President Vladimir Putin delivers a speech during a rally to support his bid in the upcoming presidential election at Luzhniki Stadium in Moscow. Reuters

20/50 2 March 2018 A light turns red outside of Germany's Krupp Mannesmann steel factory. German officials and industry groups warned U.S. President Donald Trump that he risks sparking a trade war with his closest allies if he goes ahead with plans to impose steep tariffs on steel and aluminium imports. AP

21/50 1 March 2018 People dance during Holi festival celebrations in Kathmandu, Nepal. EPA

22/50 28 February 2018 Indian fans watch as the funeral procession of the late Bollywood actress Sridevi Kapoor passes through Mumbai. AFP/Getty

23/50 27 February 2018 Candles are left in tribute to murdered Slovakian investigative reporter Jan Kuciak, 27, and his fiancee Martina, 27, at Slovak National Uprising Square in Bratislava. A leading Slovak newspaper says organised crime may have been involved in the shooting death that shocked Slovakia. The bodies of Kuciak and Kusnirova were found Sunday evening in their house in the town of Velka Maca, east of the capital. AP

24/50 26 February 2018 Colosseum during a heavy snowfall in Rome, Italy. REUTERS/Alberto Lingria

25/50 25 February 2018 Family members of victims of the sunken South Korean naval ship Cheonan by a North Korean attack hold up defaced portraits of Kim Yong Chol, vice chairman of North Korea's ruling Workers' Party Central Committee, during a rally against his visit near the Unification bridge in Paju, South Korea. A North Korean high-level delegation led by Kim arrived to attend the closing ceremony of the Pyeongchang Winter Olympics. The signs read: " Let's punish Kim Young Chol." Getty

26/50 24 February 2018 Ivanka Trump (C) cheers while sat between former Olympic US bobsledders Shauna Rohbock (L) and Valerie Fleming (R) as the United States beat Sweden in their Men's Gold Medal Curling match at the Gangneung Curling Centre in Gangneung, South Korea. Ivanka Trump is on a four-day visit to South Korea to attend the closing ceremony of the PyeongChang Winter Olympics. Getty

27/50 23 February 2018 David Allen Turpin (C), who along with Louise Anna Turpin is accused of abusing and holding 13 of their children captive, appears in court with attorneys David Macher (L) and Alison Lowe in court in Riverside, California. According to Riverside County Sheriffs, David Allen Turpin and Louise Anna Turpin held 13 malnourished children ranging in age from 2 to 29 captive in their Perris, California home. Deputies were alerted after a 17-year-old daughter escaped by jumping through a window shortly before dawn, carrying a de-activated mobile phone from which she was able to call 911 for help. Responding deputies described conditions in the home as foul-smelling with some kids chained to a bed and suffering injuries as a result. Adult children appeared at first to be minors because of their malnourished state. The Turpins were arrested on charges of torture and child endangerment. Getty

28/50 22 February 2018 The Elephanta Island, home to the famous Elephanta Caves, finally gets electricity after a wait of 70 years. Seventy years after Independence, a 7.5-km long undersea cable has finally brought electricity to the world-famous Gharapuri Isle, which houses the UNESCO World Heritage site Elephanta Caves, about 10-km from Mumbai, India. Getty

29/50 21 February 2018 Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau pays his respects at the Sikh Golden Temple in Amritsar. Trudeau and his family are on a week-long official trip to India. Getty

30/50 20 February 2018 Members of the Syrian civil defence evacuate an injured civilian on a stretcher from an area hit by a reported regime air strike in the rebel-held town of Saqba, in the besieged Eastern Ghouta region on the outskirts of the capital Damascus. AFP/Getty

31/50 19 February 2018 A Thai Navy instructor demonstrates how to catch a snake during a jungle survival exercise as part of the "Cobra Gold 2018" (CG18) joint military exercise with US soldiers, at a military base in Chonburi province, Thailand. Reuters

32/50 18 February 2018 Children play outside their destroyed school in the Frikeh village, in Idlib, north-western Syria

33/50 17 February 2018 A pro-Kurd demonstrator attends a protest demanding the release of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) leader Abdullah Ocalan in Strasbourg, France

34/50 16 February 2018 Joe Zevuloni mourns in front of a cross placed in a park to commemorate the victims of the shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School, in Parkland, Florida Reuters

35/50 15 February 2018 South Africa's new president Cyril Ramaphosa holds up his right hand as he is sworn into office AFP/Getty

36/50 14 February 2018 The African National Congress’s (ANC) treasurer general Paul Mashatile (left) and parliamentary chief whip Jackson Mthembu address a media briefing, after an emergency ANC caucus meeting on 14 February in Cape Town. South Africa’s parliament will hold a vote of no-confidence in President Jacob Zuma on 15 February, the ruling ANC party said, signalling its determination to eject him from office after days of stalemate AFP

37/50 13 February 2018 North Korean cheerleaders are surrounded by media as they attempt to walk on Gyeongpo beach in Gangneung, South Korea AFP/Getty

38/50 12 February 2018 Former US President Barack Obama unveils his portrait at the Smithsonian's National Portrait Gallery in Washington, DC AFP/Getty

39/50 9 February 2018 US Vice President Mike Pence and North Korean leader Kim Jong-Un's sister Kim Yo-Jong attend the opening ceremony of the Pyeongchang 2018 Winter Olympic Games AFP/Getty

40/50 8 February 2018 Bangladesh police charge towards activists of the Bangladesh Nationalist Party protesting following a verdict against opposition leader Khaleda Zia in Dhaka. The ex-Prime Minister of Bangladesh was jailed for five years on corruption charges. AFP/Getty

41/50 7 February 2018 Rescue services search for people in a damaged building in eastern Taiwan after a magnitude 6.4 earthquake hit Hualien on the night of 6 February, 2018. Media reports said several buildings were damaged and at least four people were killed and some 100 were injured during the quake. Teams are trying to rescue people inside the buildings. Some bridges and roads are damaged and the main road to Hualien is closed. More than 100 earthquakes have hit off Taiwan's east coast in the past three days. The Seismological Observation Center said they are cuased by the friction between the Philipine Plate and Eurasian Plate. EPA

42/50 6 February 2018 Anti-North Korean protesters push against police as a ferry carrying a North Korean art troupe for the Pyeongchang 2018 Winter Olympic Games approaches the port of Mukho in Donghae. Around 120 North Korean art performers in matching red coats and fur hats left for the South, its state media said on February 6, the latest in the flurry of cross-border exchanges in the run-up to the Pyeongchang Olympics. AFP/Getty

43/50 5 February 2018 Philadelphia Eagles' Nick Foles celebrates with the Vince Lombardi Trophy after winning Super Bowl LII. Reuters

44/50 4 February 2018 Authorities investigate the scene of a fatal Amtrak train crash in Cayce, South Carolina. At least two were killed and dozens injured. The State via AP

45/50 3 February 2018 Members of security services react as a man in the crowd tries to shake hands with French President Emmanuel Macron, who walks next to Senegalese President Macky Sall in a street of Saint-Louis, Senegal. Reuters

46/50 2 February 2018 County Sheriffs restrain Randall Margraves, the father of three daughters who were abused by Larry Nassar, after he tried to attack the former team USA Gymnastics doctor who pleaded guilty in November 2017 to sexual assault charges, during victim statements of his sentencing in the Eaton County Circuit Court in Charlotte, Michigan. REUTERS

47/50 1 February 2018 Abu Rabih, 65, walks through the rubble with his eight-year-old grandson Yahya following air strikes by regime forces which hit the building where they live in Arbin, in the rebel-held Eastern Ghouta region on the outskirts of the Syrian capital Damascus. Arbin is in the Eastern Ghouta region which has been under government siege since 2013. AFP/Getty Images

48/50 31 January 2018 A 'Supermoon' shines its blood red colors during a full eclipse above the Big A Sign of Angel Stadium in Anaheim, California. A 'Supermoon' commonly is described as a full moon at its closest distance to the earth with the moon appearing larger and brighter than usual. EPA

49/50 30 January 2018 A man wears a mask among fellow supporters as Kenyan opposition leader Raila Odinga (not pictured) takes a symbolic presidential oath of office in Nairobi. Reuters

IntrovertedMandalore on March 21st, 2018 at 19:36 UTC »

Is Pope Francis about to reveal some sick ink under those robes? Because this sounds like the perfect opportunity to do so lol.

hmsheena on March 21st, 2018 at 18:15 UTC »

Yes this comment will probably get down-voted in the rush of "Omg Pope and Catholics are backwards lol" comments but you have to understand... The Catholic Church is an INTERNATIONAL organization and he was speaking to an audience composed of Priests from all over the world. In many regions, especially in religious circles, Tattoos are looked down upon. This is him telling the Priests to not adopt this attitude of cultural stigma and instead use it to encourage dialogue. If anything, this is him telling the Priests to be more understanding of others.

donfelicedon2 on March 21st, 2018 at 14:52 UTC »

The 81-year-old will arrive in Dublin to take part in the Festival of Families, a faith-based cultural concert, in Croke Park.

81? God, if your real and you browse Reddit, help this pope break a record or something, because I really don't want anyone else.