Pope Francis Wears Custom ‘Anime’ Coat While in Japan
By Carl Samson
Pope Francis received a coat designed with an anime-style figure of himself as a gift on his Japan trip on Monday.
The 82-year-old religious leader accepted the gift in Tokyo’s St. Mary’s Cathedral, where he spoke before a notably young crowd of Catholic followers.
The coat, which came in dominant blue and pink, is called a “happi,” a traditional outfit worn during festivals and special events.
The straight-sleeved clothing featured cherry blossoms, as well as other Japanese imagery.
Pope Francis immediately donned the coat, which also included words such as “gratitude,” “let’s pray together,” “may there be peace,” “what can be done to give disaster victims hope” and “we are glad that you’re the Pope.”
The moment provided some comic relief from a four-day trip that was aimed at raising awareness for the devastating effects of nuclear weapons.
The Pope arrived in Japan on Nov. 23 and left on Tuesday.
Aside from his visit to St. Mary’s Cathedral, the Pope stopped over Hiroshima and Nagasaki — the sites of the nuclear bomb droppings in World War II — and condemned the violence that affected civilians for decades.
“Convinced as I am that a world without nuclear weapons is possible and necessary, I ask political leaders not to forget that these weapons cannot protect us from current threats to national and international security,” he told followers in Nagasaki on Sunday, according to the Catholic News Service.
“In a world where millions of children and families live in inhumane conditions, the money that is squandered and the fortunes made through the manufacture, upgrading, maintenance and sale of ever more destructive weapons, are an affront crying out to heaven.”
This is Pope Francis’ second visit to Japan, where an estimated 536,000 Catholics live, according to Vatican News.
He is also the first pope to visit the East Asian country in 38 years, with John Paul II being the last to visit in 1981.
Social media users have since commented on the Pope’s happi, with some cracking jokes about it.
Twitter users commented:
“I’ll convert from today.”
“He seems to really like it.”
“He looks like an onsen employee.”
“The Pope is too nice in so many ways.”
“He truly has the power of god and anime on his side.”
Feature Image Screenshots via POPE IN JAPAN 2019【公式】
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