Pope’s ‘selfie’ photograph with youths released

POPE Francis took a foray into the world of mobile phone self-portraits, or ‘selfies’, when he met youths at St Peter’s Basilica this week.

Riccardo Aguiari, second from left, took the photo alongside Pope Francis. Picture: AP

In pictures released yesterday, Pope Francis is shown huddled alongside three other figures in a shot captured on the front-facing camera of a smartphone.

Taking and sharing self-portraits in this way is popular on social networks and photo-sharing sites such as Instagram, and the photo was the brainchild of youths from the Italian Diocese of Piacenza and Bobbio who came to Rome for a pilgrimage.

In other news, Pope Francis has made his most significant appointment to date, naming Archbishop Pietro Parolin as his secretary of state, Vatican prime minister and chief aide. Currently the Holy See’s representative in Venezuela, Archbishop Parolin will now take on the role often referred to as “deputy Pope”.

Pictures: AP