Smiling Pope Francis allows ill girl to run and play on the stage after she slips away from her mother as he delivers his weekly Vatican address

• Pope Francis gave weekly audience Wednesday on the important of actions
• As he was speaking, a young girl ran up on stage and began fooling around 
• Francis motioned security away, saying: ‘God speaks for the children, let her be’ 
• He later told the audience: ‘This poor girl is a victim of an illness and she does not know what she is doing. When we see a person who is suffering, we must pray’
• Last year, Francis also allowed an autistic boy to play on stage uninterrupted

Pope Francis allowed a girl suffering from an undisclosed illness to run around on to the stage during his general audience on Wednesday.  

The girl, wearing a pink T-shirt reading ‘Love,’ slipped away from her mother at the front of the audience hall and reached the big marble stage where Francis was giving a sermon on the importance of helping those in need.

Catching sight of herself on a large television screen positioned off to one side, she then began running up and down, jumping, pulling faces, and clapping. 

Pope Francis allowed a girl with an undisclosed illness the run of the stage during his weekly Vatican audience on Wednesday after she broke away from her mother

The girl, wearing a pink t-shirt reading ‘love’ could be seen sitting in the front rows of the hall with other physically handicapped people before getting up on the platform with Francis

Francis begins stumbling over his sermon as the girl moves around him, but quickly motions to security to leave her alone, prompting loud applause from the audience.

‘Let her be. God speaks for the children,’ he said. ‘Let her be, don’t worry.’ 

She remained on stage for around five minutes before her mother walked up, took her hand, and led her back to their seats.

The sermon, which was themed around the importance of actions and avoiding hypocrisy, then continued for 15 minutes, before the girl reappeared – having apparently slipped away from her parents for a second time.

As she reappeared on the marble platform she turned and faced the audience, who broke into applause.

She continued running around the stage and aisle for another 10 minutes, before a man walked up and grabbed her arm, before walking away.

The girl could then be seen sitting in the third row back from the stage, alongside others in wheelchairs.

After the girl ran up on stage, Francis motioned security guards away, saying: ‘Let her be. God speaks for the children. Let her be, don’t worry.’

The girl appeared fascinated with a large television screen at the side of the stage on which she was visible and began striking poses in it

The girl’s mother went up to the stage to fetch her at one point, while her father also took her back to her seat, but she kept returning

The girl ran, jumped, clapped, and then entertained herself by playing with the Swiss Guard

A short time later she was back on the stage, where she remained until the audience – which lasted over an hour – finished. 

At the end of his speech, Francis told listeners:  ‘This poor girl is a victim of an illness and she does not know what she is doing.’

‘I ask one thing and everyone should respond in their own heart. Did I pray for her when I saw her? 

‘Did I pray so the Lord heals her and protects her? Did I pray for her parents and her family?’

‘When we see a person who is suffering, we must pray. This situation should help us always ask this question.’

A similar event took place last year, when a young autistic boy broke free of his mother and went to play on the stage alongside Pope Francis as he spoke.

‘This boy cannot speak, he is mute,’ Francis told those gathered for his weekly general audience, after the boy’s mother apologised and explained to the pope that her son was autistic, Italian media reported.

‘But he knows how to communicate, how to express himself,’ the Argentine pope said.

In November last year, Francis allowed a young boy with autism to play on the stage after he also escaped from his parents during the audience 

After going back into the crowd, Pope Francis kissed the autstic boy on the head

‘And more than that: he is free. Free in an unruly way, but free’.

The boy tugged on the gloved hand of a Swiss Guard and played behind Francis’s chair.

‘Give me a kiss,’ the pontiff said, as the boy’s mother rushed on stage to try and catch him, before Francis told her to let him be.

‘We should all ask ourselves, am I as free in the face of God? We should all be as free before God as a child before his father’.

‘Let us ask for the grace for this child to speak,’ he said, as the 7,000 or so faithful present burst into applause.  

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