Francis offered to send an email, Leuco said, so no one would doubt the journalist's story.

CNN: The 'cold call' Pope rings again

"I was ashamed, too shy to tell him I didn't know how to pray, " Leuco wrote.

CNN: The 'cold call' Pope rings again

Leuco thought it was a prank, until he saw that the message indeed derived from Vatican City.

CNN: The 'cold call' Pope rings again

As they prepared to hang up, Leuco said the Pope asked the journalist to pray for him.

CNN: The 'cold call' Pope rings again

In an e-mail Leuco says he received from the Pope following their conversation, Francis turned the journalist's political challenge into a spiritual one.

CNN: The 'cold call' Pope rings again

Leuco's open letter, the Pope says, reminded him of one of the Gospel's Beatitudes: Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth.

CNN: The 'cold call' Pope rings again

Leuco said he got a WhatsApp message from a Vatican official who said that the Pope had read his column and wanted to know the journalist's email address.

CNN: The 'cold call' Pope rings again

But Leuco says he almost missed the call.

CNN: The 'cold call' Pope rings again

Luckily for Leuco, the pontiff rang twice.

CNN: The 'cold call' Pope rings again