Vatican officials are confirming that there are inaccuracies in the reporting of an interview that took place between Pope Francis and the editor of a secular Italian newspaper.

According to the National Catholic Reporter, the pope’s interview with Eugenio Scalfari of La Repubblica, which was published on October 1, contained at least one major error and perhaps more.

Vatican spokesperson, Fr. Thomas Rosica said in an e-mailed statement that the interview ran the risk of “either missing some key details or conflating various moments or events recounted during the oral interview.”

Most notably, Scalfari claims that the pope left the room before accepting his election and had a mystical experience in an adjacent room.  However, several Cardinals who attended the conclave that elected the pope, such as Cardinal Timothy Dolan of New York, said Pope Francis never left the room to pray after his election.

“Cardinals who witnessed the events have categorically stated that the newly elected pope never left the Sistine chapel for a period of reflection before finally accepting the papacy other than his entering the ‘room of tears’ for vesting,” Rosica confirmed.

“There was never any indication of hesitation, a need for serious reflection on the election that had taken place, or rethinking what had befallen him!” Rosica wrote.

These errors may have occurred because, as Rosica clarifies, Scalfari “did not tape his interview with Pope Francis, nor did he take notes, so the text was an after-the-fact reconstruction.”

Although Scalfari claims he allowed the Pope to read and approve the interview ahead of time, there is no way of knowing how closely Francis actually read it.

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