''Just Pope Francis here - I'll call back later''
The Pope tried to call a group of Spanish nuns to wish them a happy New Year - but they were out so he had to leave a message on their answering machine.
Pope Francis was trying to contact the Barefoot Carmelite nuns from Luceana in southern Spain, but they were busy with their midday prayers, and didn't hear the phone.
In his voicemail, the pontiff chuckled "What can the nuns be doing that stops them answering the phone?"
"This is Pope Francis," he continued. "I wanted to give you New Year's greetings. Maybe I'll try to call again later. May God bless you."
A recording of the voicemail was obtained by Spain' El Mundo newspaper, and was broadcast on Italian radio over the weekend.
Sister Adrianna, the prioress of the convent, told a local radio station she was mortified when she eventually found the message.
"When my duties allowed me to go to the phone, I literally wanted to die," she said.
"I took down the message and passed it to the other nuns. We told ourselves we had just been fulfilling our duty of prayer. We never thought the Pope would remember us."
Pope Francis called back and managed to talk to the nuns later in the evening.
