The Pope Endorses ‘The Middle Finger’ in Now-Deleted Viral Tweet
AP Photo/Alessandra Tarantino
Pope Francis stirred up a bird’s nest on social media with a tweet, now deleted and replaced, extolling the virtues of “the middle finger” as being a reminder about honesty.
The Pope‘s viral tweet was the middle one in a series about God placing “the gift of life in your hands,” and describing attributes of each finger.
He began with the thumb, which is “closest to our heart” and “symbolizes prayer. Then the index finger, which corresponds to “community,” and which “we use to point things out to others.”
Then the third finger. The original tweet was deleted, then reposted about 50 minutes later with an almost identical message — but with one critical change.
The original referred to the “middle” finger…
… whereas the repost called it “the third finger.”
https://twitter.com/Pontifex/status/1621159504380571648
Phrasing!
It is a culturally critical change in the United States, where “middle finger” of course has a … less than friendly connotation. Although, to be totally fair, even in the American context you could argue it’s a very, ahem, honest connotation.
The tweet garnered a slew of amused reactions, and though as with any tweet there were plenty of “less than friendly” replies and quote retweets, many people simply smiled. There were also a lot of references to cultural differences. And of course, as any American would expect, to driving.
This one stood out.
Some of the original replies.
And this one gave a good chuckle, too.
Here are the Pope’s other tweets about how each finger of the hand can be a reminder about life and faith.
https://twitter.com/Pontifex/status/1621146670334443520
https://twitter.com/Pontifex/status/1621146921841590273
https://twitter.com/Pontifex/status/1621159755954651136
https://twitter.com/Pontifex/status/1621160007885529089
Third finger, not middle finger. Surely that is itself a lesson or metaphor of some kind. I just can’t think of what it is right now because I’m in the third of a busy morning.
