TIZIANA FABI/AFP/Getty ImagesHoly moly!
An Italian man got what was probably one of the biggest shocks of his life when Pope Francis himself phoned him in person. Only...he didn't believe it was him and hung up. He did this twice.
The pontiff, who occasionally contacts strangers who reach out to him in person or in writing, had on Monday called the Franco Rabuffi to comfort him, as he had said he was sick, French news wire Agence France-Presse (AFP) quoted the Vatican newspaper l'Osservatore Romano as saying, as seen in The Telegraph.
After he hung up the second time, Pope Francis phoned him again and he took the call.
"I was speechless but Francis came to my rescue, saying that what had happened was funny," AFP quoted Rabuffi as telling l'Osservatore Romano.
The news wire reported that Rabuffi, accompanied by his wife, appeared before the Pope during the Vatican's general audience on Wednesday and apologized to him.
Francis' practice of calling strangers spontaneously, an example of his unconventional, down-to-earth professional nature when compared to his predecessors, has earned him the nickname the "Cold Call Pope," according to The New York Times.
The newspaper reported that in 2013, another Italian call recipient who had written a letter to the pontiff, Michele Ferri, said she believed it was a hoax when she picked up the phone and heard, "Hello, Michele, it's Pope Francis."