Pope Francis is used to appearing in photos; he is, after all, one of the most famous humans on earth, given to presiding over large public gatherings and posing for countless souvenir photographs with his reverent fandom. Sometimes, that fandom includes creatures of the canine persuasion. Sometimes, those animals are lifted on high to get as close to his papal glory as possible. And sometimes, those divinely-blessed dogs make for an epic photobomb as their tongues loll, blissfully basking in the Pope’s presence.
At least, that’s what happened outside the Vatican in St. Peter’s Square on Wednesday. It was a beautiful, sunny day in Rome, made all the better by this perfect capture of canine joy. The Pope was meeting with a dog training group in the square, Metro UK reports, and he also spent time with and blessed some of the other lucky dogs.
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Write to Raisa Bruner at raisa.bruner@time.com