gstar28 Pope Francis recounts ‘mischievous’ youth in autobiography

Pope Francis celebrates the Holy mass of the Epiphany in St Peter’s Basilica at the Vatican on January 6, 2025. (Photo by Andreas SOLARO / AFP)

VATICAN CITY — Pope Francis reveals his “mischievous” youth in an autobiography published Tuesday, in a book that also touches on his childhood, immigration and ordering pizza.

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In excerpts of “Hope: The Autobiography” provided by publishers, the pontiff recounts episodes from growing up in a multicultural neighborhood of Buenos Aires, including things he would come to regret.

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“I remember my sins and I am ashamed… I am a sinner like everyone else,” the 88-year-old leader of the world’s Roman Catholics writes, describing himself as a “mischievous child”.

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READ: The life and times of Pope Francis as he marks his 10th anniversary as pontiff

The pope, who has repeatedly urged sympathy and care for migrants hoping to reach Europe, also tells of his own Italian grand-parents’ emigration to Argentina in 1929.

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Holding only third-class boat tickets for the voyage, his grandmother had to hide her possessions in the lining of her jacket.

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“There’s nothing new about it. It’s a story of yesterday as much as one of today,” Francis writes.

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He also recounts his surprise at being chosen in 2013 to lead the Catholic church, saying: “I had never imagined that the conclave could affect me directly, and in no way could I have thought about a name as pope.”

READ: Girls, rivalries, football in Pope Francis memoir

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Francis also says he has not watched TV since 1990, “to respect a vow I made to the Virgen del Carmen on the night of July 15 of that year”.

“That evening I was with my community in Buenos Aires, we were watching the TV, and a sordid scene appeared on the screen, which deeply offended me: I got up and left.”

That has meant not being able to watch matches of his favourite San Lorenzo football team — though a Swiss Guard brings him match results — among the sacrifices of being pope.

“Going out for a pizza is one of the small things that I most miss,” he writes.

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