- 'Dark day': Victims mourned around the globe on Oct. 7 anniversary
- On attacks anniversary, Israel fights multi-front war
- Mexican mayor murdered days after taking office
- Intensifying to Category 5, Hurricane Milton targets Florida
- Mission to probe smashed asteroid launches despite hurricane
- Biden, Harris mark Oct. 7 with call for Mideast peace
- Dupont set for Toulouse return after post-Olympic holiday
- French rugby bosses tighten discipline after nightmare Argentina tour
- Oil prices extend gains on Mideast tensions, Wall Street slips
- Visitors to get rare view of Rome's Trevi Fountain
- Europe's asteroid mission Hera launches despite hurricane
- Man City and Premier League both claim victory in legal case
- Deschamps delight as 'light back on' for Pogba after doping ban
- Biden, Harris urge Mideast peace on Oct. 7 anniversary
- Neeskens, tough midfielder in Cruyff's Ajax and Dutch teams
- UN warns world's water cycle becoming ever more erratic
- Oil prices extend gains on Mideast tensions, Wall Street retreats
- Ex-Dutch football star Johan Neeskens dies
- Man Utd battling to improve fortunes, says Evans
- What is microRNA? Nobel-winning discovery explained
- Masood, Abdullah centuries lift Pakistan to 328-4 in first England Test
- Hurricane Milton strengthens fast, threatens Mexico, Florida
- Tunisia's President Saied set for landslide election win
- Barca hoping to return to Camp Nou 'by end of year'
- Trump to open second golf course at Scotland resort in summer 2025
- Super-sub Jhon Duran rewarded with new Aston Villa deal
- US duo win Nobel for gene regulation breakthrough
- Masood hits first ton for four years to power Pakistan to 233-1
- Fritz wins delayed match to reach Shanghai Masters third round
- Naomi Osaka pulls out of Japan Open with back injury
- Weather may delay launch of mission to study deflected asteroid
- China to flesh out economic stimulus plans after bumper rally
- Artist Marina Abramovic hopes first China show offers tech respite
- Asian markets track Wall St rally on US jobs data
- Pakistan 122-1 at lunch in first England Test
- Kazakhs approve plan for first nuclear power plant
- World marks anniversary of Oct. 7 attack on Israel
- 'Second family': tennis stars hunt winning formula with new coaches
- Philippines, South Korea agree to deepen maritime cooperation
- Mexico mayor murdered days after taking office
- Sardinia's sheep farmers battle bluetongue as climate warms
- Japan govt admits doctoring 'untidy' cabinet photo
- Israel marks first anniversary of Hamas's October 7 attack
- Darvish tames Ohtani as Padres thrash Dodgers
- Asian markets track Wall St rally on jobs data
- Family affair as LeBron, Bronny James make Lakers bow
- Cancer, cardiovascular drugs tipped for Nobel as prize week opens
- As Great Salt Lake dries, Utah Republicans pardon Trump climate skepticism
- Amazon activist warns of 'critical situation' ahead of UN forum
- Mourners pay tribute to latest victims of deadly Channel crossing
RBGPF | -1.97% | 58.94 | $ | |
CMSC | -0.2% | 24.65 | $ | |
SCS | -0.7% | 12.88 | $ | |
BCC | 0.48% | 139.569 | $ | |
GSK | 0.06% | 38.845 | $ | |
NGG | -1.28% | 65.66 | $ | |
BCE | -0.33% | 33.6 | $ | |
RIO | -0.13% | 69.61 | $ | |
BTI | -0.02% | 35.284 | $ | |
RYCEF | -1.45% | 6.88 | $ | |
RELX | -0.6% | 46.015 | $ | |
JRI | -0.38% | 13.23 | $ | |
CMSD | -0.09% | 24.79 | $ | |
BP | 0.74% | 33.125 | $ | |
AZN | -0.36% | 77.19 | $ | |
VOD | 0.21% | 9.68 | $ |
No paycheck for popes, Francis says
He is rash, bad at football and sometimes frustrated at not having his own cash to spend: Francis may wear papal cassocks, but they hide a normal man beneath, he says in a new book.
"I'm hot-headed, impatient... I sometimes make decisions in a hurry," the pontiff says in a new book, "From the Poor to the Pope, From the Pope to the World", based on queries from the world's underprivileged.
From the slums of Brazil to the homeless in India, Iran and the United States, people from 80 countries put 100 personal questions to the pontiff, whose answers have been gathered in book form that will be published on April 1.
"How much do you earn? Did you ever have a girlfriend? What are your flaws?" they ask in the project by French association Lazare, which runs homes where young professionals and formerly homeless live together.
The head of the world's 1.2 billion Catholics "played the game and was surprisingly transparent, even on very personal matters," the association's secretary general, Pierre Durieux, told AFP.
That included the self-confessed "dreamer" -- a fan of French poet Baudelaire -- saying yes to the girlfriend question.
"Despite a crazy agenda, he took the time to listen to all the questions, right up to the last one," Durieux said.
- 'A bit absurd' -
Jorge Mario Bergoglio, who chose the name Francis as a symbol that his papacy would put the world's poor front and centre, talks about his life, family, tastes, vocation as a priest -- and intolerance for luxury.
"It hurts me that men of the church, priests, bishops, cardinals, drive in luxury cars and, far from giving an example of poverty, give the most negative of testimonies," he said, as quoted in the book.
He rejects all things bling -- though admits he could not buy himself flashy things even if he wanted to.
"I don't get paid anything. Not a cent! They feed me, and if I need something, I ask for it," he said.
"People always tell me 'yes,' by the way. 'We're not going to fight with the pope'! If I need shoes, I ask.
"My poverty is fictitious, since I lack nothing. But it is still a bit absurd to have to ask... It makes me less self-sufficient," he admitted.
One thing he won't be asking for: football shoes.
Though football is his favourite sport, the Argentinian has never been skilled at it.
"When I was young, I was always put in goal because I played badly. I was told I had two feet in the same shoe," he quips.
- 'Brilliant sense of humour' -
Loic Luisetto, Lazare's director, said Francis was a "simple man... with a brilliant sense of humour".
"We gave him a little buzzer to use if he didn't want to answer. He never used it."
Over four meetings at the Vatican, Francis spoke virtually, in Spanish, to dozens of people in the project set up by Lazare and some 20 non-governmental organisations from five continents.
"What would you ask the pope if he were in front of you?" participants were asked.
Any nerves about getting personal with the world's top Catholic disappeared after the organisers -- who were put up in the Vatican residence hall where the pope lives -- bumped into him going about his daily life.
They saw Francis "in the elevator or at breakfast with his tray," Durieux said. "This closeness to him contributed to the family atmosphere of the interviews".
At breakfast, presumably, the pope had already been up for hours.
The pontiff confessed to being "a real zombie" in the mornings -- perhaps not that surprising considering he rises shortly after 4 am.
There is a price to be paid for being up with the larks at the ripe age of 85, for Francis admitted "sometimes falling asleep during prayer".
Once up, he dresses. Never, however, in the traditional white trousers his predecessor ex-pope Benedict XVI wore, for "I'm not an ice cream seller!"
L.Davis--AMWN