Angela Merkel Got Angry When Pope Francis Called Europe a 'Barren Woman'

German Chancellor Angela Merkel placed an angry phone call to Pope Francis last year after he compared Europe to "a barren woman," the pontiff revealed for the first time this week.

"She was a bit angry because I had compared Europe to a barren woman, incapable of producing children," Francis said in an interview with Italy's Corriere della Sera.

"She asked me if I really thought Europe could no longer make children. I told her yes it can, and many, because Europe has strong and deep roots."

Francis added that Europe "in the darkest moments it has always shown itself to have unexpected resources."

Merkel's testy phone call came after a November 2014 speech Francis delivered to the European Parliament in Strasbourg, Germany.

In his address, the Pope criticized a "haggard" Europe which he charged was "now a grandmother, no longer fertile and vibrant."

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