Pope Francis puts bullied teen on the spot by asking her to sing

Pope Francis has put a bullied American girl on the spot by asking her to sing to him during a live teleconference ahead of his upcoming visit to the US.

Yesterday the pontiff simultaneously addressed crowds in Chicago, Los Angeles and McAllen, Texas in a virtual town hall meeting where he came across 17-year-old bullying victim Valerie Herrera.

The teen has a rare skin condition that causes patches of her skin to appear several shades lighter than on the rest of her body.

When Pope Francis heard that Valerie had found comfort in music he put the teen on the spot by asking her in English to sing to him.

When the teen hesitated the Pope implored her to "be courageous".

After a few awkward moments Valerie sung a couple of lines of a hymn in Spanish .

"Thank you very much. That's very kind of you," the pontiff said as the crowd cheered.