VATICAN CITY - Pope Francis, who has called the internet a "gift from God," confessed via Webcam to an inquisitive girl on Thursday that he is a disaster with technology and does not know how to use a computer.

 

Alicia, from Spain, who took part in a worldwide Google Hangout for children with special needs, asked the pope if he liked to take pictures and download them on his computer.

 

"I have to tell you the truth. I am a disaster with machines," he said. Francis used the Spanish word "tronco", or tree trunk, which is colloquially used for someone who is very clumsy, or a disaster at something.

 

"I am not able to use computers," the 78-year-old Argentine pope said, laughing. "What an embarrassment, right?"

 

Last year Francis said in a message on communications that the internet was a "gift from God" that could help unite people but he also has warned families to shut off their smart phones and talk more to each other.  — Reuters