Supreme Pontiff, Bishop of Rome, and leader of the worldwide Catholic Church His Holiness Pope Francis slapped the hand of a pilgrim seeking his spiritual aid.

The incident occurred when the Pope went out to greet believers who came to the Vatican, but became annoyed at an earnest pilgrim who pulled his hand whilst seeking spiritual munificence.

Roman Catholics believe the sitting Pope to be the "Vicar of Christ," or the "earthly representative of Christ," enjoying Papal infallibility.

Papal infallibility is a dogma of the Catholic Church that states that, in virtue of the promise of Jesus to Peter, the Pope is preserved from the possibility of error "when, in the exercise of his office as shepherd and teacher of all Christians, in virtue of his supreme apostolic authority, he defines a doctrine concerning faith or morals to be held by the whole Church."

Infallibility is, according to the New Catholic Encyclopedia, "more than a simple, de facto absence of error. It is a positive perfection, ruling out the possibility of error."