The woman, known as Amalia, said that when Jorge Mario Bergoglio was young, they were both just 12 years old in the Buenos Aires suburb of Flores, declared that 'he would devote his life to God if he couldn't marry her'.

However on Thursday, speaking from her home in Flores, an emotional Amalia said that the 'romance' did not prosper because of the opposition of her parents.

Pope Francis I. File Pic/AFP