Doubts persist that Pope Francis (Jorge Mario Bergoglio) really did admit that two percent of the over 414,000 Roman Catholic priests worldwide are pedophiles.

For one, the story published in the leftist Italian newspaper, La Repubblica, was based on a conversation and not an interview of the Pope by Eugenio Scalfari, the newspaper's founder who is also an atheist.

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Scalfari wrote the story from memory since he apparently didn't take notes during the hour-long talk. Scalfari is also 90-years-old.

The Vatican noted that Scalfari has a reputation of neither taking notes nor taping his interviews. Instead, Scalfari writes his stories based solely on his recollections of his interviews.

"Many of my collaborators who fight with me (against pedophilia) reassure me with reliable statistics that say that the level of pedophilia in the church is at about two percent," Pope Francis was quoted by Scalfari as saying.

Scalfari also alleges the Pope as saying that while most pedophilia occurs in family situations, "even we have this leprosy in our house."

Vatican spokesman Father Federico Lombardi said the talk with the Pope was not an interview but a conversation. He emphasized the talk wasn't an interview in the normal sense of the word and could not therefore be attributed to the Pope "with certainty."

Father Lombardi, who is the director of the Holy See Press Office, also said Scalfari's claim that Catholic Cardinals are also pedophiles isn't accurate and that Scalfari is trying to "manipulate naive readers."

There are 414,000 Roman Catholic priests worldwide, which means that some 8,000 of them are pedophiles, if Scalfari's memory is correct.

Vatican sources said the Pope's estimate of two percent seems unlikely since the Church has little information on pedophilia among its priests in the developing world.

Data on priests involved in pedophilia is often available in developed countries, however.

La Repubblica is known for its defiance of the Catholic Church. It often attacks the Church, especially on ethical topics and the Church's interference in these issues.

Founded in 1976 as a radical and socialist newspaper, La Repubblica has since softened its virulence to become a center-left political paper.

A previous story on ChinaTopix questioned the credibility of Scalfari and his claim.