Pope Francis held an audience with a troupe of African circus performers in the Vatican on Wednesday.

The 88-year-old watched from a throne as acrobats, robot-operated puppet elephants, jugglers and dancers on roller skates took to the stage at his weekly general audience in the Paul VI Hall.

CircAfrica, consisting of 60 performers from 32 African nations, have been performing in Rome after touring Austria and Germany.

The head of the Catholic Church sounded congested throughout the audience and skipped around half of his prepared text for the event, but appeared entertained by the exotic performance.

For his first catechism lesson of 2025, the Pope denounced the “scourge” of child labour and other abuses suffered by children.

“Children occupy a privileged place in God’s heart, and whoever harms them will be accountable to him,” he said, adding: “We must firmly prevent and condemn any abuse that minors may suffer.”