First-hand account: Laughing with the crowd, there Pope Francis was reaching towards me

Mr Paisley I hope you are sitting down if you read this.

In an unwitting ecumenical gesture, Pope Francis shook hands with the first Ulster protestant of his reign on Sunday: me.

I had turned up outside the parish church of Saint Anna in the Vatican to cover the scene as he attended Mass before his first Angelus address in St Peter's Square.

Leaning against a hastily erected barrier at the far end of the line, I had not expected him to come up as far as I was - content to look on as he was virtually mobbed by the people of Rome. To the obvious concern of his anxious security detail, he darted one way, then the other, reaching into the crowd, chatting and laughing.

Then there he was, standing right in front of me, reaching out his hand and smiling.

Like a good journalist I tried to ask him a question, but was drowned out by the shrieks of the crowds and a small nun.

I wanted to know whether he found it strange to have been suddenly elevated to his new status. I should really have wished him a happy St Patrick's Day.