Pope Francis Tells Mothers To Breastfeed In Sistine Chapel

On Sunday, Pope's message to mothers was: "allattateli", or "breastfeed them".

Pope Francis baptized 33 babies in the Sistine Chapel in a celebration of the feast of the Baptism of the Lord. He then told the mothers to feel absolutely free open to breastfeed them if they heard them cry or announce their hunger, according to nbcnews.com.

"You mothers give your children milk and even now, if they cry because they are hungry, breastfeed them, don't worry," he said, reading from a text that was not what he had prepared. His written text said "give them milk," but he then altered it to use the Italian term "allattateli". Do not be reluctant to feed them here, he said.

Even as the 20 girls and 13 boys in the room were renowned for Michelangelo's frescoes, Francis mentioned the poor children all over the world. There were too many, he said, who could not feed their babies.

There was one mother at that point who had started breastfeeding, probably recalling what he had said earlier.

Baptism is the sacred ritual with which babies are initiated into Christianity. The Pope spoke every baby's name and poured water on its forehead from a golden shell-shaped cup. He welcomed the babies into the religion.

He urged the parents, who were Vatican employees, to set a good example to the babies by reading the Gospel everyday.

"Always carry a small Gospel in your pocket, purse, to read it," Francis said. "And this will be an example to the children, to see dad, mum, godparents, grandfather, grandmother, uncles, read the Word of God," according to dailymail.com.

The chapel was painted by Michelangelo in the 16th century. This is the room in which cardinals elect popes in secret conclaves. Pope Francis is the first non-European pope in 1,300 years to take over on March 13, 2013, since 740 A.D.