In one of his surprise
phone calls, Pope Francis telephoned a parish priest in a poor
district of Rosario, Argentina's third-largest city, to thank
him for his work in helping the poor, reports said Thursday.
Father Joaquin Nunez, who was arrested and tortured during
the infamous military regime of 1976 to 1983, was reportedly
woken up by the call early last Thursday and said he had a long
conversation with the Argentine pontiff.
"He told me he follows closely what goes on in the
'barrios' (districts) of Rosario, this tragedy of violence and
drug trafficking that forces us to bury the young daily and that
he very much sympathised with us for the situation we live in".
He said the phone call had given him and the whole
neighborhood "great joy".
Shortly after becoming pontiff in March 2013, Francis
squashed reports he had colluded with the rightist regime in the
abduction and torture of two Jesuit slum priests.
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