Pope Francis: I snatched a cross from my confessor’s corpse

So even the pope has his moments of weakness — and thy name be thief.

Pope Francis admitted Thursday that he long ago went to pray by the open casket of his confessor and noticed that nobody had left flowers.

“This man forgave the sins of all the priests of Buenos Aires, but not a single flower,” he said, according to the Associated Press. So the pope stepped away to buy a dozen roses.

He brought them back to the casket and began to arrange them, AP reported. And that’s when he saw the rosary in his late confessor’s hand.

“And immediately there came to mind the thief we all have inside ourselves and while I arranged the flowers I took the cross and with just a bit of force I removed it,” he said. “And in that moment I looked at him and I said, ’Give me half your mercy.’”

The pope said he carried the cross for years in his pocket. But now that his official robes don’t have pockets, he carries it in a pouch.

“And whenever a bad thought comes to mind about someone, my hand goes here, always,” he said, in the AP report. “And I feel the grace and that makes me feel better.”