'Sometimes I Fall Asleep' While Praying, Admits The Pope

He's one of the most holy humans on the planet, with millions of devout followers around the world worshipping him. Many of them put their faith in him and the Roman Catholic church to make their lives better with his prayers.

And Pope Francis - the 80 year-old pontiff who took over from Benedict XVI in 2013 - prays a lot. Often for very long periods, with his eyes closed. We thought he was sending all sorts of positive thoughts to Catholics everywhere.

Credit: PA

But on an in an episode of a Catholic TV2000 television programme, published on Tuesday via YouTube, Pope Francis admitted that sometimes, during those long periods when his eyes are closed during his prayers, he's actually sleeping.

"When I pray, sometimes I fall asleep," he admitted, before passing the buck to a long-dead nun from 19th century France, who was of course unable to defend herself against the accusation: "Saint Therese did it too."

To be fair, though, the Argentinian Pope has a very hectic schedule, whizzing around in his bulletproof Popemobile and making all sorts of public appearances and international visits.

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And while it's reported that he tends to go to sleep at about 9pm every night, he wakes up at about 4am every morning. Which is fair enough, especially in what's turned out to be an eventful year for the 266th Pope - in September he sustained a black eye after stumbling in the Popemobile during a visit to Colombia.

Still, even if he does drift off occasionally while communicating with his boss, the 80-year-old pontiff has, on the whole, been a very moderate Pope. He has called for transgender and gay people to be embraced by the Catholic Church, although he did also say that schools shouldn't teach or endorse those tendencies.

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So presumably he'd forgive you if you ever had a little nap during a church service. Or at work, or at school, or wherever. So next time you find yourself nodding off, just remember - if the Pope can have a little kip during prayer, you're damn well allowed to have one whenever the hell you want!

Words: Mischa Pearlman

Featured Image Credit: PA

Topics: World News, UK News, US News, Sleeping

Stewart Perrie

Stewart Perrie is a Trending Journalist at LADbible. His first job was as a newsreader and journalist at the award winning Sydney radio station, Macquarie Radio. He was solely responsible for the content broadcast on multiple stations across Australia when the MH17, Germanwings and AirAsia disasters unfolded. Stewart has covered the conflict in Syria for LADbible, interviewing a doctor on the front line, and has contributed to the hugely successful UOKM8 campaign.

@stewartperrie