Pope Francis: “I don’t like the 666.”

From The Guardian:

The frosty relationship between two of the world’s most prominent Argentinians appears to have taken a turn for the worse after it emerged that Pope Francis rejected a charitable donation from the government of President Mauricio Macri – at least partly – because the sum included the figure 666.

Earlier this month, the centre-right president made a donation that totaled 16,666,000 pesos (slightly under $1.2m) from the Argentinian government to the Scholas Occurentes educational foundation, which is backed by the pope and is based on a similar organization founded by Francis when he was cardinal of Buenos Aires.

Two weeks ago, the pope presided over an event in Rome at which medals were awarded to Hollywood celebrities George Clooney, Salma Hayek and Richard Gere, who have agreed to be ambassadors for the charity. Shortly afterwards, Macri made the donation.

But according to the Vatican Insider – a publication specializing in papal affairs published by the Italian newspaper La Stampa – Francis wrote to the Argentinian branch of the foundation, asking them to return the money. In a postcript, he wrote: “I don’t like the 666.”...MORE

Roger that, no 666 for Il Papa, over.