Pope Francis recalls saying bad word to grade school teacher

Urging parents to include themselves in their children’s education, Pope Francis on Wednesday recalled a childhood experience when he was reprimanded by his mother for saying a bad word in front of a teacher.

In his general audience at St. Peter’s Square in Vatican, the Pope said he was in fourth grade when his mother was summoned to his school.

“Once, I said a bad word to the teacher. And the teacher, a good woman, called my mother,” he said. “They spoke among themselves, and then I was called in.”

The Pope went on by saying how his mother told him that what he did was wrong and asked him to apologize.

“But mom said it with such gentleness, and she asked me to apologize to the teacher in front of her. I did it and I was happy because I thought, ‘the story ended well,’” the Pope added.

The Pontiff even joked that it was just the “first chapter” of the story: “When I got home, the second chapter started—you can imagine that for yourselves!”

Pope Francis used his childhood story in telling the audience how things have supposedly changed over time in terms of disciplining children.

“Today, when a teacher does something like that, the next day you have both parents or at least one of them reprimanding the teacher because the ‘experts’ say that children should not be scolded that way,” he said. “Parents must not exclude themselves from their children’s education.” RC