Pope to nuns: Pick up the phone

Pope Francis has made another one of his cold calls to wish a group of nuns in a Spanish convent Happy New Year. Only he got their answering machine, instead.

“What are the nuns doing that they can’t answer the phone?” Francis asked in the message he left, the recording of which was obtained by Spain’s El Mundo newspaper and broadcast on Italian media Saturday.

“This is Pope Francis. I wanted to offer you greetings for the end of the year. Maybe I’ll try to call again later. May God bless you,” he said.

Francis has made a habit out of calling people out of the blue, often checking in with ordinary folk who have written him about their hardships. He places the calls himself, as evidenced by the message.

Little monsters

In another development Pope Francis has warned that priests can become “little monsters” if they aren’t trained properly while studying as seminarians.

Francis also warned against accepting men for the priesthood who may have been implicated in sexual abuse, saying the protection of the Catholic faithful is most important.

Francis made the comments during a closed-door meeting of 120 superiors of religious orders Nov. 29 at the Vatican. On Friday, the Jesuit journal La Civilta Cattolica provided a report of the informal, question and answer session. The Vatican never provided a transcript of the meeting.

The magazine interviewed Francis last year.
USA Today/AP/ Fox News