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POPE FRANCIS HAS joked about the difficulties of being head of the world’s Catholics today – saying he never wanted the job, in unscripted comments in which he also said he had turned down luxury Vatican housing because it would be “boring”.
“Someone who wants to be pope does not really like themselves,” the pontiff said laughing, in answer to a child’s query during a question-and-answer session with Jesuit school students in the Vatican.
“I did not want to be pope,” he said.
His predecessor Benedict XVI once said he had prayed to God not to be elected pope but that “evidently this time he didn’t listen to me.”
Francis also told his audience he had decided not to move to the official papal apartments, staying in a residence hotel in the Vatican instead.
“It’s a personality problem. I need to live with people. If I lived alone, I would feel a bit isolated and it wouldn’t be good for me,” he said.
“It would be bad and boring,” he added.
“A professor asked me about this and I told him, ‘Listen, professor, it’s for psychiatric reasons’,” the 76-year-old Argentine pope told his audience with a grin.
He also condemned global poverty as a “scandal” and urged his young audience to counter “the economic and social structures that enslave us”.
Francis said that for Christians being involved in politics was a “duty” for the common good.
“Lay Christians have to get stuck into politics. Politics is dirty but maybe it’s dirty because Christians are not involved,” he said.
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Minister keep the cap on senior bankers pay no turning back !
Only a politican could see mortgaging a nations future for a dysfunctional banking system as an achievement.
another delusional gobshite. ff/fg spot the difference.
No difference Fergus. Fought tooth and nail against the crooked FF policies – get into office and continues doing it. Nooner’s a failed politician from a decade ago – and an investor in German bonds. Fact!
If he Is a "failed politician" please explain how he is one of the nation’s highest pole-toppers? And the most powerful Minister in our Government?
He has led one of the greatest political comebacks we have ever seen.
A Musgrave,
You wouldn’t be a Fine Gaeler by any chance?
Out and out gobshite
Says your man.
how many times can Noonan use the phrases “magic bullet” & “silver bullet” and/ or “magic solution”
Seriously- get some new vocab!
How did he get to Washington? 1st class I guess.
I would love to know.
FG’s excuse of taking over the remains of the fail FF government of the last 14 years is now wearing thin. They promised swift sharp change during the election and have failed to deliver. FG completely devoid of new ideas. What have they really done since they took over? The few quid we got off the loans was always coming it wasn’t from the hard work and effort from FG. Why can’t Noonan just come out and say if this dude from the AIB proved that he can turn that disaster around pay back what it owes and turn a profit again then yeah give him above the 500k till then Kenny Noonan and co get off your fat arses and live up to your election promises or just F##k off and let someone else try.
Dub Don in believing election promises shocker?
What “someone else”?
FF sank us in the first place.
Labour’s already in government and seems to have forgotten the “Labour” part of their name.
SF? Please. Raising €21 million up North isn’t a resume for running a country’s economy.
SWP? Independents?
Who else is there?
Or do you feel like giving up the career you’ve worked for to become the lowest member of the pecking order so that you can “change the system from within” in about 20 years?
Forgot irony tag
Learn to repeat them, I presume.
"learn from our banking mistakes" ?
Our own banks haven’t, AIB are looking to raise Chief Executive’s salary!
Oh the IRONY!
Jaysus. There’s a misleading headline. I thought he was going to be hanging his head in shame. Instead he’s holding us up as a shining star. JC. What a gobshite.
I would love to go through his and his families bank statements for the last 20 years. Including foreign banks as like all politicians they seem to live way beyond their means. He might be less inclined to blow his own trumpet so often.
They (government) HAVE to praise themselves cos the ordinary people of Ireland have NOTHING TO PRAISE THEM ABOUT
greece about to default ,these comments from noonan mean nothing because we will be next for default ,he is talking about austerity but fails to mention our debt has increased substanially.this govt are doing nothing to think or act outside the box,simply obeying their masters in europe which means there is no need for 50% of them ,they need to get off the public gravy train and reduce the costs No more freeloaders please!
Blah blah blah
It is standard practice to "talk up" the country when abroad.
What else would he do?
Talk us down perhaps?
Potential investors are listening.
Doctor Death recommends another lethal cocktail.
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