Francis' star status a shock for cardinals

Pope Francis

The cardinals who elected Pope Francis 18 months ago had no inkling that he would turn out to be such a "rock star" pontiff, two "princes of the church" have said.

Jorge Mario Bergoglio, as he then was, seemed shy during the conclave that ended in his election, said Cardinals George Pell, of Australia, and Timothy Dolan, of America.

There were few signs he would make such an impact on the Roman Catholic Church after the secret vote in the Sistine Chapel last year.

Their candid remarks were made on the sidelines of a two-week synod which began last Sunday.

Almost 200 bishops from five continents are discussing issues such as divorce, contraception and the direction of the Catholic Church.

"I thought of him as a very retiring, behind-the-scenes man," said Dolan. "In no way did I think he would be the sort of man who would electrify the crowd as he has done."

The American said the cardinals who elected the former Archbishop of Buenos Aires knew they had chosen "a good manager" but did not think they would be "getting a rock star".

"I live on Madison Avenue in Manhattan, which is synonymous with public relations and marketing," he said. "Many people come up to me and say: 'Who is coaching this guy, who is doing his PR, who is doing the choreography?' I love to see the look in their eyes when I say: 'Nobody - he's just like that, he's the essence of simplicity and sincerity'.

"He's his own man. Nobody told him to go and pay his hotel bill in Rome the day after he was elected Pope. Nobody tells him to carry his own, beat-up old briefcase.

"He just does it as a decent, courteous human being. Nobody was coaching him. He has a magnetic simplicity."

The Jesuit Pope was enticing lapsed Catholics back to the Church with his example of being a "natural, down-to-earth pastor", rather than by battering them with dogma and theological lectures.