A VIDEO OF Pope Francis pulling his hands away as people make attempts to kiss his ring has gone viral online. 

The video is from a visit the Pope took to the Holy House in Loreto, Italy, yesterday. 

It shows the pontiff pulling away his hands as people bend down to kiss his ring.

Kissing the papal ring is traditionally seen as a sign of respect for the office.

Francis’ apparent reluctance to have his ring kissed has sparked a debate online, where the video has gone viral.

Pope Francis has been criticised repeatedly by conservative Catholics, who accuse him of straying too far from traditional church doctrine. 

They saw the video as a further attempt by Francis to eschew tradition. 

He was defended on Twitter by his biographer Austen Ivereigh, who tweeted that Francis was greeting people “warmly, as human beings”.

“He’s making sure that they engage with him, not treat him like a sacred relic. He’s the Vicar of Christ, not a Roman emperor,” he said.

According to The BBC, a full video of the Pope from Official Vatican TV shows him standing in a receiving line for around 13 minutes.

In that time, he received about 113 people in total. The video shows people either shaking hands with the Pope or bowing to kiss his ring.

The section of the video widely shared on the video – in which he pulls away his hand – only showed a small section of the overall receiving line.