Many popes have had good senses of humor. The following are a few quotes from some of them: Pope Saint John XIII said when he was asked how many people work at the Vatican, he said: “About half”. To a young boy whom he was visiting in a hospital who said he either wanted to be a policeman or a pope, the Pope said: “I would go in for the policeman if I were you, anyone can become a pope, look at me!” Pope Paul VI after being shown his schedule for a particularly busy day said: “There is only one thing lacking at the end”: the pope’s funeral!” Pope John Paul I said: “if someone had told me I would be Pope one day, I would have studied harder.” When Cardinal Dolan was Archbishop of Milwaukee, and told Pope John Paul II that the Archdiocese of Milwaukee “is growing and expanding,” the Pope responded, “And so is its new archbishop!” Pope Francis’s sense of humor is one of his most engaging qualities. To a member of the Swiss Guard who told Pope Francis he could not sit down and rest while on duty because of orders from his captain , Francis said “oh, is that so? Well, I’m the Pope and I am asking you to sit down.” Pope Francis then gave him a chair and a sandwich. In the Pope’s latest book- interview “God is Young” of March, 2018, he says “if one doesn’t have a sense of humor, it’s very difficult to be happy: it’s necessary not to take oneself too seriously. A sense of humor is fundamental to be able to breathe, because it’s linked to the capacity to enjoy life, to be enthusiastic,” he says. “If we are in good humor, it’s easier to live with others and with ourselves. Pope Francis confides that every day, for almost forty years, he has recited the “Prayer for Good Humor by Saint Thomas More (1478-1535). That prayer goes like this: Grant me, O Lord, good digestion, and also something to digest. Grant me a healthy body, and the necessary good humor to maintain it. Grant me a simple soul that knows to treasure all that is good and that doesn’t frighten easily at the sight of evil, but rather finds the means to put things back in their place. Give me a soul that knows not boredom, grumblings, sighs and laments, nor excess of stress, because of that obstructing thing called “I.” Grant me, O Lord, a sense of good humor. Allow me the grace to be able to take a joke to discover in life a bit of joy, and to be able to share it with others. This above prayer ends Francis’ book.
Sources: zenit.org, epicpew.com, catholicnews.com, aleteia.org