Pope Francis inadvertently demonstrated his own fallibility during an address in St Peter’s Square when he mistakenly said the Italian word for “f**k”.

In the 12 months since he was elected, the Argentinean Pope, who worked with the poor in the slums of Buenos Aires being before made pontiff, has shown a healthy sense of humour and an unerring ability to connect with ordinary people.

But he accidentally went a little too far in using the language of the street after mispronouncing the word “caso”, which means example, as “cazzo” – Italian for f--- or, in other contexts, cock.

“If each of us were to accumulate wealth not only for ourselves but to put at the service of others, in this f--- [pause], in this case God’s providence would manifest itself in this gesture of solidarity,” he told a large crowd, delivering his ‘Angelus’ address from a window overlooking St Peter’s Square.

The 77-year-old Jesuit Pope corrected himself almost immediately after making the gaffe during the audience at the Vatican on Sunday, but it was posted by Italians on YouTube and other social media and has since spread round the world.

People who watched the clip seemed amused by it but ready to forgive the Pope.

“Too funny! Pope Francis is great,” wrote one Italian man on YouTube, while another remarked: “What a gaffe, but it makes him one of us even more”.

Another YouTube user cited the famous quote by Alexander Pope, the 18th century English poet: “To err is human, to forgive, divine.”

A non-Italian wrote “Poor guy, as a foreigner I know how hard it can be to distinguish between the ‘ts’ and ‘dz’ sounds.”

The Pope regained his composure quickly and went on to pray for peace in Ukraine, a country which he said found itself “in a delicate situation”.

“I make a heartfelt appeal to the international community to support every initiative on behalf of dialogue and concord,” he said, before wishing the crowds “a good Sunday and a good lunch,” as is his weekly custom.

•Text courtesy Daily Telegraph, London. Photo shows Pope Francis.

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