In the photo above, the pontiff kisses the feet of Australian boy Anthony Taylor, 9, who is the son of a diplomat from Canberra.

With the humble gesture, which represents the fraternity of all human beings, the pope implicitly condemned all forms of racism and discrimination.

In recent times, the pontiff has invested much of his energy in international relations and has encouraged initiatives to promote the moral and material wealth of developing countries in Africa, Asia and South America.