Newspaper reports from Argentina quoted an archbishop claiming that Pope Francis jokingly said he chose to live in a simple Vatican residence to avoid getting robbed in the more regal papal palace.
A story posted on the website of the Catholic news agency of Argentina AICA quoted Archbishop Mario Poli, who replaced Pope Francis as archbishop of Buenos Aires, telling the joke.
“Just to gossip with him a bit we said, ‘Aren’t you going to live in the papal palace?’ and he told us ironically, ‘There? So they can rob me? No!’,” Poli was quoted as saying in a speech to the faithful on Saturday. The comments were reported by local newspapers on Wednesday.
Poli said the Pope used the Argentine slang term “afanar,” which means to steal.
Since his election on March 13, Francis has opted to live in a small suite in a busy guest house instead of the opulent papal apartments where he would be surrounded by the offices of the curia, the Vatican’s central administration.
Source
Image: Reuters
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