The Pope Deleted a Tweet Praising the Middle Finger

Pope Francis celebrates mass at the John Garang Mausoleum in Juba, South Sudan, Sunday, Feb. 5, 2023. Francis is in South Sudan on the second leg of a six-day trip that started in Congo, hoping to bring comfort and encouragement to two countries that have been riven by poverty, conflicts and what he calls a “colonialist mentality” that has exploited Africa for centuries. (AP Photo/Gregorio Borgia)

Giving someone “the finger” is more offensive here than in Italy. And I guess they don’t do it much in Vatican City either!

Late last week, The Pope’s official Twitter account posted-and-deleted a tweet PRAISING the middle finger. It was all very innocent though. He wasn’t really praising the action of GIVING someone the middle finger, but it was just a part of a larger lesson about what each finger means.

It started with a speech he gave in the Congo last Thursday, where he talked about how the five digits on your hand represent five essential things in life. For example, your thumb represents “prayer,” and your pinky means “service.”

Whoever runs his Twitter account summarized each one online, but eventually yanked the posts down after people had fun with the one about your middle finger.

The post said it represents “honesty,” because it’s higher than your other fingers. So in the comments, people were promising to flip people off more.

The best response came from someone in New York who said, quote, “I am doing the Lord’s work driving on the Belt Parkway this morning.”