Pope flashes hand sign in Manila, prompts head-scratching

The New York Daily News ^ | 12/21/14 | Deborah Hastings

[Faith Presses On]

Pope Francis, during his recent love-filled tour of the Phillippines, raised his hand in a salute and prompted some Internet tongue-wagging.

Standing next to Luis Antonio Cardinal Tagle in Manila, the Pope raised his index and pinkie fingers, keeping his third and fourth fingers down and his thumb extended.

The cardinal did the same.

All of which prompted the Los Angeles Times to post on its music blog that the pontiff might have been making the sign of the horns, a heavy metal staple among concert fans, or perhaps a centuries-old devil sign.

[Cry if I Wanna]

Isn’t that from Star Trek?

[MeshugeMikey]

this should “develop” fairly quickly...

I’m betting on it not being a “Heavy Metal” “salute”

most bizarre

[Gamecock]

[lee martell]

I’m starting to think this Pope does things for the sole purpose of getting and keeping attention.
He is already walking back those rather strange comments from earlier this week, that Catholics should not ‘breed like rabbits’.

[married21]

Isn’t that sign language for “I love you”? It’s a combination of the letters I, L and Y.

At the Barcelona olympics, that sign was used to create the COBI mascot. It was a little critter intended to be shaped like “I love you”, in sort of a modern art style, befitting the Barcelona art vibe.

[steve86]

I refuse to believe the Holy Spirit had any part in the election of this nut, except perhaps as “you get what you deserve”, like Obama.

[Snickering Hound]

[Alex Murphy]

Standing next to Luis Antonio Cardinal Tagle in Manila, the Pope raised his index and pinkie fingers, keeping his third and fourth fingers down and his thumb extended. The cardinal did the same. All of which prompted the Los Angeles Times to post on its music blog that the pontiff might have been making the sign of the horns, a heavy metal staple among concert fans, or perhaps a centuries-old devil sign.

Or maybe he's just a big Spider-Man fan?

[LostInBayport]

[IllumiNaughtyByNature]

It’s the ASL sign for I love you. And it appears they are looking towards the front of the crowd, which is wear an interpreter would be for the deaf, no?

[lee martell]

Maybe he thought he was doing the Mahalo hand sign of the Hawaiians, I think it means hello, or peace. I’ve seen Cher use it, usually after she’s tweeted something hateful about conservatives.

[dead]

[Gamecock]

And then there is the sign for the Van Buren Boys:

[Lazamataz]

Yup. This guy is the End-Times Pope after all. He's showing allegiance to Satan.

[Resolute Conservative]

The Longhorns need all the help they can get.

[mikrofon]

This merits closer examination-

[DannyTN]

I think that's from Crocodile Dundee.

[PapaBear3625]

Deaf sign language for "I Love You"

[Larry Lucido]