From being "dazzled" by a beautiful girl to his role in Argentina's dictatorship, Pope Francis reviews his long life in his first autobiography -- and makes clear he is going nowhere.

In "Life: My Story Through History," to be published next week, the 87-year-old is in storytelling mode, joking around while also sharing personal anecdotes that have affected him deeply.

The Catholic Church nearly missed out on its first South American pope after a young Jorge Bergoglio was bowled over by a girl.

A first girlfriend, who worked in cinema, had not stopped Bergoglio from signing up to a seminary.

But the trainee priest was at an uncle's wedding when he was "dazzled" by a girl "so beautiful, so clever, it made my head spin", Francis told Italian journalist Fabio Marchese Ragona, who conducted the interviews for the short book.

"For a week I kept picturing her in my mind's eye, and found it difficult to pray. Fortunately it passed, and I was able to dedicate my mind and body to my vocation," he said.

Francis also talks about another........

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