Oops! Pope Francis drops the F-bomb during Vatican address

Vatcan city: It was not exactly holy language as Pope Francis made his weekly Vatican address and accidently dropped the F-bomb. The pontiff used the four-lettered word in front of thousands as he stumbled over the Italian word for ‘example' - caso.

Mamma mia! The Pope maintained his composure after he said cazzo, which means f''k, instead of caso. Pic/AFP

But instead out popped cazzo - which means f''k. Within seconds of His Holiness' words being spoken they were posted on dozens of Italian media websites, as well as YouTube and gained millions of worldwide hits as it went viral.

The Argentinian Pontif had been urging for a peaceful solution to the crisis in the Ukraine and speaking from the window of his apartment at the Vatican's Apostolic Palace.

He said: "It is my wish that all the components of the country will endeavour to overcome misunderstandings and build together the future of the nation.

I make a heartfelt appeal to the international community to support every initiative on behalf of dialogue and harmony. A heart full of longing for possession is a heart empty of God.

For this, Jesus many times chastised the rich because the risk for them to seek security in the wealth of this world is high. In this fxxk, in this case the providence of God is made visible as gesture of solidarity."

Pope Francis maintained his composure despite the slip, quickly correcting himself, as the crowd gathered in St Peter's Square and those watching around the world asked themselves ‘Did he just say fxxk?'

On the Internet, the slip up generated hundreds of comments with many explaining that it was a common mistake and others said it underlined their impression of him as a ‘man of the people.'