Your trusted source

Pope Francis was trapped in a Vatican elevator for nearly half an hour on his way to deliver the weekly public mass on Sunday, The Hill reported, citing The Washington Post.

“I had an unexpected event,” Francis said when he finally made his appearance in the window of the apostolic palace. “I was stuck in an elevator for 25 minutes.”

The pope attributed the malfunction to a “drop in voltage.”

“Thank God the fire department came — I thank them so much,” he said, according to the Post.

“After 25 minutes of work, they managed to get it working," he added. "A round of applause for the firefighters!”

During the same address, the pope announced 13 people who would be elevated to the rank of cardinal, one of whom, the Rev. Michael Czerny, currently serves as the Vatican’s undersecretary for migrants and refugees, the newspaper noted.