The Vatican has made a spelling mistake that is a little embarassing, given their purpose, to say the least. The Italian State Mint has created 6,000-some papal medals to commemorate Pope Francis' first year as the leader of the Catholic world. The beautiful medals are intricate and details with one small glitch: The inscription around the edge of the coin mistakenly spells Jesus with an L. The coins--which were made in gold, silver and bronze--feature the face of Pope Francis and have been purchased by collectors around the world. The front of the flawed coin has a portrait of the Pope with the inscription "Franciscus Pont. Max. An. I." The back side of the coin, according to Catholic Culture, is supposed to read: "Vidit ergo Jesus publicanum et quia miserando atque eligendo vidit, ait illi sequere me." Translated to English, it reads: "Jesus saw the tax collector and by having mercy shoe him as an Apostle saying to him: Follow me."
Since the realization that the coins spell "Lesus" instead of "Jesus," the Vatican has withdrawn 6,000 copies from sale, which took place at the Vatican Publishing House in St. Peter's Square Tuesday. That said, those four who have the flawed copy aren't at a loss, as experts believe the flawed medals will have a high value due to the scarcity of them. The coins are made every time a new pope is elected, as the coins are a source of income for the Vatican. Social media users have taken this mistaken as inspiration for jokes about the new term "Lesus," reports BBC. Two-hundred medals were made in gold, 3,000 in silver and 3,000 in bronze.
Pope Francis has earned himself the unofficial title as the people's Pope after he has displayed more progressive attitudes on many issues than his predecessors. "If someone is gay and he searches for the Lord and has good will, who am I to judge?" said Pope Francis in a news conference aboard the papal plane while flying back to Rome from Brazil, where he celebrated World Youth Day. "There's a lot of talk about the gay lobby, but I've never seen it on the Vatican ID card! When I meet a gay person, I have to distinguish between their being gay and being part of a lobby. If they accept the Lord and have goodwill, who am I to judge them? They shouldn't be marginalized. The tendency (to homosexuality) is not the problem ... they're our brothers."
"A person once asked me, in a provocative manner, if I approved of homosexuality," said Pope Francis to Jesuit priest Fr. Antonio Spadaro, who conducted the interview for La Civilta Cattolica. "I replied with another question: 'Tell me: when God looks at a gay person, does he endorse the existence of this person with love, or reject and condemn this person?' We must always consider the person." He also expanded on the role of women in the interview. "The feminine genius is needed wherever we make important decisions. The challenge today is this: to think about the specific place of women also in those places where the authority of the church is exercised."
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