Nuns leave Pope hanging on the telephone

Pope Francis made a cold call to wish a group of nuns in a Spanish convent a happy new year earlier this week but got their answering machine instead.

“What are the nuns doing that they can’t answer the phone?” he asked in the message he left, the recording of which was obtained by Spain’s El Mundo newspaper and broadcast on Italian media today.

“This is Pope Francis. I wanted to offer you greetings for the end of the year. Maybe I’ll try to call again later. May God bless you,” he said.

Pope Francis has made a habit out of calling people out of the blue, often checking in with ordinary people who have written him letters about hardships they are dealing with.

He places the calls himself, as is clear by the message. It is not clear how many of his calls have gone unanswered since he first donned the white hat at the beginning of this year.