The Popemobile was forced into drastic action today after it swerved to avoid a police officer thrown from her horse as she was passed by the pontiff.

Pope Francis made an unscheduled stop on his visit to Iquique, Chile when he stepped out of the vehicle to check on the injured officer who had been guarding him.

Dramatic footage shows the popemobile veering suddenly to avoid hitting the woman seen falling during a struggle with her horse.

Flanked by his security detail, the pontiff calmly hopped off and walked towards the injured woman as she was tended to by colleagues.

The Pope was waving to crowds before the incident (
Image:
@AhoranoticiasAN)
The horse can be seen rearing up as the Popemobile passes (
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@AhoranoticiasAN)
The woman is thrown from her horse as the popemobile passes (
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AFP)
The incident took place as the pontiff met crowds in Iquique, Chile (
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AFP)

CNN journalist Marilia Brocchetto tweeted: "@ Pontifex continued his good deeds today, by getting off his Popemobile and helping a policewoman that fell off her horse."

This week, Pope Francis made history by performing a wedding ceremony for two flight attendants on board a plane travelling between cities in Chile.

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The Pope checked on the injured officer (
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AFP)
Crowds tended to the injured officer including Pope Francis (
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AFP)

Paula Podest Ruiz, 39, and Carlos Ciuffardi Elorriga, 41, told the pontiff they had been married in a civil service but their planned religious ceremony in their parish church in Santiago could not take place because it was heavily damaged in the country’s 2010 earthquake.

Pope Francis suggested performing the brief ceremony on his short flight from Santiago to the city of Iquique in northern Chile.

Pope Francis is on a trip to Chile (
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REUTERS)
He will also head to Peru (
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Splash News)

"Do you want me to marry you?" he said.

“Here?” they asked, astonished.

The pope said yes and he performed a brief ceremony at 36,000ft at the front of the plane.

“Everything is valid. Everything is official,” said Vatican spokesman Greg Burke.

“We will show you a picture of the document later.”

According to the couple, during the ceremony, Pope Francis blessed their rings and then said: "We need a witness."

Carlos turned around and asked his boss, the CEO of the airline, to serve as a witness.

The visits are part of a two-nation trip (
Image:
Splash News)
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Barcroft Media)

The Pope asked his cardinals to draft the paperwork, he said.

One cardinal aboard the flight drafted the wedding certificate on a sheet of paper from the airline by hand.

The document was signed by Pope Francis, the couple and the witness.

The pontiff gave the bride a white rosary and the groom a black rosary.

The flight was provided by Latin America's largest airline, Latam, and the journey forms part of the pontiff's tour of Chile.

On Wednesday, Pope Francis visited the city of Temuco in Chile's southern Araucania region, where he called for unity in one of the country's longest-running conflicts.

In a public address, the pontiff said that "destructive violence" between the indigenous Mapuche people and the state was not the answer.

The region has experienced conflict for centuries, sparked by issues including ancestral land ownership and legal recognition for the Mapuche language and culture.

Pope Francis has also used his trip to meet victims of sexual abuse by priests in Chile.

He ended his visit today with an open-air mass celebration in Iquique, before heading to Peru for the final leg of his two-nation trip.