Dr. Thomas D. Williams reports for Breitbart that on February 15, 2018, Pope Francis said to a group of priests that he is “on the waiting list” to be a saint:

“There are two recent bishops of Rome who are already saints. Paul VI will be a saint this year. One with his cause for beatification in progress—John Paul I—his cause is open. And Benedict and I are on the waiting list. Pray for us!”

Note: The pope is also the bishop of Rome. The “two recent” popes who were canonized (declared saints) are Popes John XXIII and John Paul II.

Breitbart‘s Dr. Williams charitably assumes that Francis “was almost certainly speaking tongue in cheek,” but would you joke about expecting to be declared a saint?

Jesus said, in Mark 8:38:

“For he that shall be ashamed of me and of my words . . . the Son…