Pope Francis Opens Up In Interview On Second Anniversary Of Election
NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) - Friday marks the second anniversary of the election of Pope Francis.
Pope Francis went to confession Friday at St. Peter's Basilica, just hours after opening up to a Mexican television host in a wide-ranging interview. In it, he talked about the night of his election two years ago.
"During the vote, I was praying the rosary…and I felt great peace…and for me this was a sign that God wanted it, great peace. From that day to this, I have not lost it," he said.
When the interviewer asked if he likes being Pope, he said he doesn't dislike it but isn't happy with the required travel and misses his relative anonymity and freedom.
"The only thing I would like is to go out one day without being recognized and go to a pizzeria for a pizza. That would be nice," Pope Francis said.
Friar Andrew Small is the U.S. director of the Pontifical Mission Societies and meets with Francis annually. He said in the last two years, the world has welcomed the pope's humility and humanity.
"He's become such a point of reference, a moral compass, a guide and a friend, a daily counselor for many people," Small said.
The Pope said in the interview he has a feeling that his pontificate will be brief.
"…I feel the lord has placed me here for a short time and nothing more," he said.
Small, like many Catholics and others, pray the Pope is wrong.
Mercy has been a focus of Pop Francis and he even uses the word in his official motto.
He announced Friday a special "jubilee year of mercy" to start in December. It is only the 28th jubilee year in the history of the church.
On the night of his election, a stunned-looking Cardinal Jorge Bergoglio shyly waved to the crowd of tens of thousands that had gathered in St. Peter's Square.
Vatican watcher John Allen said the Pope Francis the world sees as a natural in public was not always like that as the Archbishop in Buenos Aires.
Vatican Watcher: Pope Francis The World Sees Now Wasn't Always Comfortable Being In The Public Eye
"I mean, you talk to people who knew him in Argentina, they will tell you he hated appearing in public, did it as little as he possibly could, and when he did, his friends would say he came off as shy. His critics would say he came off as boring. But in any event, nobody thought he turned the world on with his smile," Allen told WCBS 880's Rich Lamb.
Allen has written a new book called "The Francis Miracle."
"I don't instinctively go looking for supernatural explanations under every rock, but I will say that in this case, I think that there is something almost mystical about what's happened to Francis. And he will tell you that the night he was elected, he had a kind of mystical experience, what he's described as an experience of God's closeness that has freed him up to be this new man that the world now sees," Allen said.
