Little boy steals the show, won’t leave Pope’s side at Vatican event

A little boy who wandered on stage during an appearance by Pope Francis seems to be quite attached to the Pontiff.

At a gathering at the Vatican last weekend to celebrate the Year of Faith, an unknown boy ran up on stage and gave Pope Francis a hug around the leg. Pope Francis patted him on the head, and carried on with his speech. It was clear the boy had no intention of leaving, however, and stayed on stage with the Pontiff for several minutes.

Despite the encouragement of aides, he refused to return to the crowd.

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He even briefly joined Pope Francis’s staff, helping to lead a little girl up to meet him. It looked like he may have even higher job aspirations, however, as he took a seat in the Pope’s special white chair for a brief stint.

It doesn’t look like Pope Francis really minded having the boy on stage with him. He simply patted him on the head occasionally, and continued with the event.