

Pope Francis apologised to the thousands of gatherers on Sunday in St Peter's Square in Vatican City for showing up seven minutes late for his traditional noon appointment with the public, reports NPR.

The 82-year-old pontiff revealed to the the crowd that he had been trapped in the elevator for 25 minutes, but firefighters swung in to action and rescued him.

A drop of voltage in the elevator is said to be the cause of the stoppage.

"First of all I have to beg your pardon for being late but I had an unexpected event," Francis said to the fellow faithful in Italian.

"Thank goodness, the firemen arrived, and I thank them so much, and after 25 minutes of work they managed to get it started again."

"Thank God the Fire Brigade came," Francis added. "Let's hear it for the Fire Brigade!"

After reciting the prayer, Francis announced the appointment of 13 new Cardinals for the missionary Church.