Vatican switchboard nuns field growing calls about pope — but no, you can’t speak with him directly

VATICAN CITY (AP) — How’s Pope Francis doing? Can you springiness him my get-well wishes? Can I talk with him directly?

The nuns who run the Vatican’s switchboard are fielding a increasing fig of calls with questions similar that arsenic the pope remains hospitalized successful Rome.

“They consciousness similar children waiting to cognize astir their father,” said Sister Anthony, who runs the cognition successful a spartan bureau steps distant from St. Peter’s. Basilica. “We archer them to commune for him.”

The Vatican’s cardinal fig is nationalist — and the sisters of the Pious Disciples of the Divine Master marque definite each who telephone it get a existent person, not the “press 1 for English, 2 for Latin” mentation of the automation that’s go the norm astatine large institutions and businesses worldwide.

“It’s the Vatican’s dependable — a dependable that contempt the digitalization of communications, the Vatican wants to sphere arsenic a quality voice,” said Mother Micaela, the order’s parent superior.

The Pious Disciples sisters are portion of the 100-year-old Pauline orders, which are focused connected communications, including landmark Catholic publishing operations astir the world. In outpouring 1970, they were called to run the Vatican switchboard and instructed by the then-mother superior to beryllium “a dependable that does bully due to the fact that done the telephone ligament it communicates Christ himself.”

Today, often with headsets implicit their veils, the sisters screen the phones for 12 hours a day, 7 days a week, successful beforehand of ample monitors that amusement the incoming call's state of origin. Gendarmes, the Vatican’s police, instrumentality the nighttime shift.

About a twelve sisters hailing from Italy, the Philippines, Poland and elsewhere instrumentality calls from astir the world, predominantly successful Italian, English and Spanish.

Many callers conscionable request to beryllium directed to the close Vatican bureau oregon official, and the sisters oblige with the assistance of monolithic yearbooks and directories, arsenic good arsenic a coagulated cognition of protocols and a hefty dose of discretion, Sister Anthony said.

Those who telephone asking for fiscal assistance are enactment done to the Vatican almoner’s office, which has provided assistance precocious to victims of warfare successful Ukraine, floods successful Brazil, and homelessness successful Naples successful confederate Italy.

On a caller afternoon, lasting by her bureau seat decorated with a flower-embroidered pillow, Sister Gabriella took a telephone from a clergyman inquiring astir jointly celebrating a Mass with different priests arsenic portion of his jubilee pilgrimage. Since 2025 is simply a Holy Year for the Catholic Church, with 32 cardinal pilgrims projected to sojourn Rome, related calls marque up a ample portion of the 50-70 queries the nuns reply daily.

But past determination are callers with questions the sisters can’t conscionable look up oregon spot done — those successful distress oregon aggravated oregon hopeless.

“We ne'er get a telephone that’s the aforesaid arsenic the erstwhile one,” said Sister Simona, who’s worked the switchboard for 15 years.

Francis has built a estimation for eschewing formalities — from his mode of dressing to his idiosyncratic outreach to the mediocre and marginalized earlier his hospitalization — that projects much parish clergyman than caput of authorities and person of a planetary religion with 1.4 cardinal followers.

So immoderate callers inquire the nuns to conscionable enactment him connected the line.

“People of elemental religion don’t recognize that the pope cannot talk with everyone,” Sister Gabriella said.

Others request counseling oregon comfort. The sisters effort to supply it wrong the boundaries of constricted clip and not being misconstrued arsenic authoritative Vatican spokespeople.

“But if I tin springiness consolation oregon hope, I deliberation that’s OK,” said Sister Anthony, who came to the Vatican a twelvemonth agone from her autochthonal Philippines, wherever she was a provincial superior. “Some calls are precise triggering.”

Among those calling with concerns astir the pope precocious was a pistillate who told Sister Anthony that she is Muslim but likes Francis, and wanted to inquire astir his health.

“That’s precise awesome for me,” the sister recalled, portion adding that immoderate callers are acold little friendly. “Others are aggravated with the church, truthful we perceive respectfully.”

Across the spectrum of callers, the sisters accidental they’re peculiarly blessed to supply a woman’s touch.

“Pope Francis often reminds that the religion is simply a mother,” Mother Micaela said. “And to beryllium this voice, this sensibility, this feminine attack gives a consciousness of reliability.”

About 1,100 women, spiritual and lay, enactment astatine the Vatican. Francis has precocious named a fewer to apical posts, adjacent though the priesthood and deaconate — and frankincense the bulk of the religion hierarchy — stay exclusively male.

The switchboard sisters find pridefulness successful some their unseen work and the expanding visibility of women astatine the Vatican.

“For maine it’s a blessing to beryllium successful 1 assemblage with the pope and serving the cosmopolitan church,” Sister Anthony said. “Knowing determination are much responsibilities for women, we consciousness precise empowered.”

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