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Pope Francis showed once more that he values people more than tradition. In another display of his modern way of thinking that explains why many faithful are returning to the Roman Catholic Church in droves, the pontiff baptised 32 infants at the Sistine Chapel on Sunday.

Besides the magnificent setting which includes the ceiling painted fresco by Michaelangelo, what stood out while the pope was administering the sacrament was his advice to the lactating mums not to hesitate to breastfeed their babies in the very chapel where he was elected leader of the 1.2-billion church.

The permission to breastfeed was actually his brief and improvised homily which contrasts with those given by popes ahead of him who often delivered long and theology-based homilies at the annual baptism event of Vatican to celebrate the Baptism of the Lord Mass.

Instead, Pope Francis said, "Today the choir will sing but the most beautiful choir of all is the choir of the infants who will make a noise. Some will cry because they are not comfortable or because they are hungry."

He continued, "If they are hungry, mothers, feed them, without thinking twice. Because they are the most important people here."

Among the infants he baptised was the 7-month-old baby Giulia Scardia, whose mum is technically an unwed mother in the eyes of the Catholic Church since she was married only in civil ceremonies in a town hall.

Another blessed baby is that of 35-year-old Anna Romano, a shop worker, who received a phone call from Pope Francis after she wrote him a letter earlier, seeking advice for a personal problem. Ms Romano got the call while she was on holiday.

The pope was just showing by example his teaching to priests recently to baptise children of unmarried women for them to be part of the Church and become part of the chain of faith.

YouTube/Vatican

Explaining further, Pope Francis said, quoted by The Daily Mail, "You are the ones that transmit the faith, the transmitters, you have a duty to pass on the faith to these children. It's the most beautiful legacy that you leave to them: the faith."

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