Italian actor and director Roberto Benigni stole the show from Pope Francis on Sunday with a humorous half-hour monologue during the closing Mass of the first World Children’s Day at the Vatican.
Roberto Benigni, triple Oscar winner in 1999, put a touch of levity at the end of an essentially religious ceremony, first greeting “all the important people” and pretending to have forgotten the Pope.
Immediately address the sovereign pontiff and tell him amid laughter from the audience: “I would like to come kiss you, to dance a tango here, since you are Argentine.”
“What good are kisses if you can’t give them?”
“Before entering, two Swiss guards approached me and told me: Mr. Benigni, you can do whatever you want, except one thing, you can’t touch the Pope. I can give you a kiss, I can give you a kiss, for what? Kisses If we can’t give them?”, the actor continued before approaching the Pope and kissing him on both cheeks.
He continued in the same tone for half an hour, alternating humor and advice to the children, proposing the sovereign pontiff to be his running mate for the next election of the Pope or telling the children to cultivate their dreams because among them there may be hidden being the first African Pope, or the Asian Pope or the first female Pope.
“Pray for peace”
Pope Francis had previously closed the first World Children’s Day with a classic mass in St. Peter’s Square in the presence of tens of thousands of faithful, children and parents.
The Argentine Pope, 87, began the mass, which was also attended by the head of the Italian government, Giorgia Meloni, asking the children to “pray above all for peace” and replacing a long homily at the last moment with a mini – catechism lesson.
Source: BFM TV
