A previously unreleased audio recording of an interview with Pope Francis has just been aired by the Argentine television channel Telenoche. In the interview, the Pope spoke about his mental health, sleep habits, and what inspired him to choose his papal name.
The interview was conducted in 2019 by Argentine journalist and physician Nelson Castro as part of research for a book about the health of popes. However, Francis specified that the interview could only be released after his death. Despite this, Castro published excerpts from the interview in an Argentine newspaper as early as 2021.
According to the Catholic News Agency, in the roughly 50-minute conversation — of which six minutes have so far been made public by Telenoche — Francis spoke, among other things, about the days leading up to his election as pope in 2013.
Francis revealed that he first considered the possibility of being elected when some cardinals began asking him very specific questions. Still, the situation did not disturb his sense of peace. As Cardinal Bergoglio (as he was then) recalled, he “slept well during his siesta,” prayed the rosary, and maintained a deep inner calm. After his election, Cardinal Cláudio Hummes whispered to him, “Don’t forget the poor” — a moment that inspired him to choose the name Francis.
In the interview for the Argentine station, Francis was also remarkably candid about his mental health. He emphasized that he does not suffer from nightmares and does not rely on medication or sleeping pills. “I sleep like a log,” he told the journalist. The Pope shared that he goes to bed at 9:00 p.m., reads until 10:00 p.m., and then wakes up at 4:00 a.m. — “usually three minutes before the alarm goes off.”
In his conversation with Nelson Castro, Francis also touched on personal sorrow and existential issues. “I have often felt sadness — because of the deaths of my parents, difficult times, human suffering,” he said. He was particularly moved by the plight of hungry children “in countries that could solve this problem,” as well as the fate of child soldiers and elderly people living in loneliness.