Popes may have used the Star Trek-style 'Vulcan salute' to bless people had it not been for the first pope St Peter's ulnar nerve injury, suggests a new study.
Bennett Futterman, a professor at the New York Institute of Technology College of Osteopathic Medicine, has found that the "hand of benediction" - a half-open hand, with pinky and ring finger remaining curled or flexed to the palm - was a result of the first pope's ulnar nerve injury, not the median nerve as most major anatomy texts and review books note.
Futterman said that many past popes - and those depicted in thousand-year-old frescoes and sculptures, assumed the traditional hand of benediction pose.
"Peter, the first pope, had an ulnar nerve injury and everyone copied him. Imitation is a great form of flattery. Out of respect for St Peter, the other popes followed with that same pattern," said Futterman, whose study is published in the journal Clinical Anatomy.
Running from the elbow to the pinky side of the hand, the ulnar nerve powers the muscles that allow the fourth (ring) and fifth (pinky) fingers to stretch away or extend from the palm.
Yet, many anatomy texts cite an injury to the median nerve, which stretches from the shoulder area through the tips of four fingers, as the cause of the hand position in the papal benediction gesture.
That assumption, said Futterman, rests on speculation that early popes were trying to make a fist but could not do so because a median nerve injury prevented the index (middle) and long (pointer) fingers and thumb from curling toward the palm.
But Futterman said papal blessings were likely intended to be given with an open hand, rather than a fist.
"A fist has always been a symbol of war - it's never a positive position. No holy man would ever bless the faithful, a crowd, or followers, by making a fist," said Futterman.
Futterman studied statues, icons, and tomb paintings to assess the hand postures of various popes, and researched earlier blessing postures used by Jewish high priests, later copied by early Christians.
"The way that Jewish high priests blessed the people is what most would recognise as the Vulcan or 'Spock' gesture," said Futterman, referring to a V-shaped open hand position.
"Later, Peter was trying to do that - he would have blessed people the way he knew. But if you have an ulnar nerve injury, you can't spread your fingers and you can't extend your pinky and ring finger," he said.
The study was published in the journal Clinical Anatomy.
