A victim of clergy sexual abuse received an unexpected phone call last Sunday when Pope Francis decided to personally call him and ask for forgiveness.

The Buenos Aires Herald is reporting that the call was made to an unidentified man from Granada, Spain who wrote a five-page letter to the pope detailing the abuse he endured at the hands of priests and what impact it had on his life. After reading the letter, Pope Francis was so moved, he picked up the phone and called the man.

“I could do nothing else but to feel moved and feel an immense sorrow while reading your story. I want to ask you for forgiveness in the name of all the Church of Christ. Forgive us for this too serious sin and too serious crime you have suffered. Forgive us, my child, for the sorrow that was caused you and for so much you must have suffered,” Francis was quoted as telling the man by the Religión Digital news website.

“These wounds make the Church feel completely resentful. You have my full support and the support of the whole Church,” the pope said.

He also said that he was praying for God to help the man “to keep his faith and continue in the Church.”

Francis also asked the man to pray for him. “Just as I will do, without doubt, for you, your family and the rest of the victims of this serious crime committed by priests. I send you my blessing and the complete support of the Church.”

This is not the first time Pope Francis has picked up the phone and called someone who wrote to him for help of some kind – a habit that has won him the nickname of the “cold call pope”. For example, he once wrote to an elderly woman who had been mugged on her way to visiting her sick husband in the hospital, sending her a generous check to make up for her loss.

A 19 year-old information technology student named Stefano Cabizza of northern Italy received the surprise of his young life when Francis called him out-of-the-blue to encourage him after he wrote a letter to the pope detailing his hopes and dreams for the future.

He also called a group of Carmelite nuns in Cordoba, Spain to wish them a Happy New Year last January but they were at prayer and missed the call. He left a message on their answering machine saying, “This is Pope Francis. I wanted to give you New Year’s greetings. I’ll see if I can reach you later. God bless.” Sister Adriana, prioress of the convent, said she was “about to die” when she got the message and frantically tried to call him back to no avail; however, the pope kept his word and called them back later in the day.

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