Pope Francis Credits Nun With Saving His Life
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In a new book, Pope Francis credits a smart nun with saving his life when he was 21 years old and struck by a serious illness.
The book, "I Fioretti di Papa Francesco" (The Little Flowers of Pope Francis), is written by veteran Vatican journalist Andrea Tornielli.
The book includes an anecdote about the pontiff's gratitude to the nuns who cared for him in the hospital when he was a young man, according to excerpts posted on Vatican Insider.
"I'm alive thanks to them. When I had the problem with my lungs in the hospital, the doctor gave me penicillin and antibiotics in certain doses," the pope said. "The nun who was in the ward tripled [the dosage] because she had an intuition, she knew what to do, because she was with the sick all day.
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"The doctor, who was really good, he lived in his laboratory, the nun lived on the front lines and talked with those on the front lines every day," he said.
The pope will be 77 years old on Dec. 17.