SOLMOE, South Korea — Pope Francis usually refuses to speak anything other than Italian or his native Spanish in public, apparently uncomfortable with his abilities even when reading from a prepared text.

But he has gamely ventured into uncharted linguistic territory during his South Korea visit, delivering a handful of speeches in English and even speaking off the cuff Friday in English to thousands of young Asian faithful.

The crowd seemed to appreciate the gesture.

“A beloved friend of mine told me you must never speak to young people with paper,” Francis said in his Spanish-accented English as he held up his prepared remarks. “You must speak, address to young people spontaneously, by the heart.”

The crowd cheered him on, and he continued. “But I have a great difficulty. I have poor English.”

“Nooooo!” the kids cried. “Yes! Yes!” he argued. “If you desire, I can to say other things spontaneously. Are you tired?” he asked.

“Nooooo!” the kids shouted. “May I go on?” he asked. “Yesssss!” they shouted.

But by then, Francis had exhausted his English. “Yes. But I do it in Italian.”

Perhaps Francis is just getting more comfortable as his year-plus papacy wears on. Just last week he dusted off his German when he met with 50,000 German-speaking altar servers in St. Peter’s Square.


Only subscribers are eligible to post comments. Please subscribe or login first for digital access. Here’s why.

Use the form below to reset your password. When you've submitted your account email, we will send an email with a reset code.