Pope Francis told mums during a baptism ceremony in the Sistine Chapel on Saturday that they should feel free to breastfeed if their infants cried or were hungry…
Departing from his prepared text, Reuters reported that he said, “You mothers give your children milk and even now, if they cry because they are hungry, breastfeed them, don’t worry.”
Oh, thank God for that.
The written text of his homily had the phrase ‘give them milk’, but he changed it to use the Italian term ‘allattateli’, which means ‘breastfeed them,’ and added that they should not hesitate.
As the 20 girls and 13 boys cried, Francis asked his listeners to remember poor mothers around the world who can’t give food to their children.
We’re not sure whether his intention was to make the mums feel at ease about breastfeeding, but we really think it should just be a given that they can feel free to breastfeed wherever and whenever, without the need for his go ahead, blessing or permission.
