PAPA FRANCESCO AND QUEEN RANIA OF JORDAN PHOTO

The Pope has once again shown his willingness to break with tradition by bowing to Muslim royal Queen Rania of Jordan.

As
leader of the world's 1.2billion-strong Catholic community, protocol
usually dictates that visitors bow to him when they meet him at the
Vatican.

But when Rania came
to the Holy See with her husband King Abdullah II on Thursday, he
inverted that formality by lowering his head to her.

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Milady: Pope Francis bows as he shakes hands
with the beautiful Queen Rania of Jordan after they shared a private
audience that also included her husband King Abdullah in the pontiff's
private library

Beautiful: A Vatican official said Pope Francis 'is not interested in protocol'

He made no discernible bow
toward her husband, the king. The Jordanian royals were leaving
following a private audience with the pope in his library.

'Francis
behaves as he did before he became pope and is not interested in
protocol', a senior Vatican official told the Daily Telegraph.

Up until the 19th century, those
meeting the pope stoop to kiss his slippers and, to this day, the
tradition remains that all visitors, including women, bow to him, the
official said.

The surprise
move came after Pope Francis showed he is well in touch with what's
popular in society today by posing for a 'selfie' with young Italian
pilgrims in St Peter's Basilica, Vatican City.

It
may be something more associated with the Justin Bieber, Victoria
Beckham and Kelly Brook, but the leader of the Catholic Church showed he
is more-than aware of today's hot topics.

Special: These youngsters will have a photo to treasure for the rest of their lives

Seen it all before: The teenage pilgrims show Pope Francis their technology - but it appears he is well in tune with modern life

The head of 1.2 billion
Catholics worldwide has already amassed more than three million
followers on the social networking site Twitter, with his latest
offering believed to be the first ever 'papal selfie'.

Around
500 teenagers had travelled from the Diocese of Piacenza and Bobbio for
a pilgrimage, and shared a private audience with the pontiff.

He was also presented a gift from his followers of a portrait of Jesus wearing a crown of thorns.

Pope Francis has made a concerted effort to understand and integrate with worldwide youth since he succeeded Pope Benedict XVI.

This
was demonstrated when he attended Brazil's World Youth Day, with tens
of thousands of people greeting him as he urged young Catholics to 'make
disciples of all nations.'