VATICAN CITY (AP) — Pope Francis says that when he was 42 he had sessions weekly with a psychoanalyst who was female and Jewish to "clarify some things."

It wasn't specified what the future pontiff wanted to explore. The revelation came in a dozen conversations Francis had with French sociologist Dominique Wolton, writing a soon-to-be-published book.

La Stampa, an Italian daily, quoting some of the conversations on Friday, said Francis went to the analyst's home. Francis was quoted as saying: "one day, when she was about to die, she called me. Not to receive the sacraments, since she was Jewish, but for a spiritual dialogue."

Francis added: "She was a good person. For six months she helped me a lot."

Francis then was a Jesuit official in his native Argentina ruled by military dictatorship.