It wasn’ t specified what the future pontiff wanted to explore.
VATICAN CITY (AP) — Pope Francis says that when he was 42 he had sessions weekly with a psychoanalyst who was female and Jewish to “clarify some things.”
It wasn’ t specified what the future pontiff wanted to explore. The revelation came in a dozen conversations Francis had with French sociologist Dominique Wolton, writing a soon-to-be-published book.
La Stampa, an Italian daily, quoting some of the conversations on Friday, said Francis went to the analyst’s home. Francis was quoted as saying: “one day, when she was about to die, she called me. Not to receive the sacraments, since she was Jewish, but for a spiritual dialogue.”
Francis added: “She was a good person. For six months she helped me a lot.”
Francis then was a Jesuit official in his native Argentina ruled by military dictatorship.
It is common place for people in Argentina to undergo psychoanalysis. The country boasts by far the most psychologists per capita in the world, with about 198 for every 100,000 inhabitants. The United States ranks fourth with about 33.9 psychologists for every 100,000 inhabitants.
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