We weren’t sure the Pope (whom we’ve now officially dubbed “Cool Pope” by the way) could surpass said coolness, but he’s just freed the nipple in the Sistine Chapel. So… We think it’s pretty safe to say he is now the coolest pope. Ever.
Last Sunday, he went to work baptizing 33 infants for the annual Feast of the Baptism of the Lord and encouraged mothers to go ahead and breastfeed their kiddos if they cried from hunger during the service.
“You mothers give your children milk and even now, if they cry because they are hungry, breastfeed them, don’t worry,” Pope Francis said during his homily on Sunday. According to Reuters, the homily was originally written using the Italian phrase for “give them milk”; but during his personal remarks the Pope altered it to “allattateli,” which directly translates to “breastfeed them.”
This isn’t the first time Cool Pope has encouraged new moms to breastfeed wherever it’s necessary: In an interview with La Stampa back in 2013, he openly declared that women should not be ashamed to feed their babies in public.
Breastfeeding in the church isn’t actually anything new: Even St. Bernard got a little teet love from Mother Mary herself in this painting from 1650. Prior to the Western obsession with sexuality and viewing a woman’s body solely as an object or a means to pleasure, much of the art that existed before and throughout Renaissance focused on breastfeeding as a cultural norm.
A CULTURAL NORM, PEOPLE. So, major kudos to Cool Pope for bringing that notion from the 1600s back to light. Cool Pope. So. Cool.
Check out this round up, “Our Lady of Milk: 20 Images of Mother Mary Nursing” to get a full frontal look at how normal breastfeeding is.
