"Sometimes at lunch with bishops, he will joke about his popular appeal," says Paul Cardinal Poupard. "He will say, 'That's the charisma of Peter.'" Yet intimates also say he is insistent that his role as Pope not be confused with his own person. He doesn't use the papal we but always says, "I think," "I believe," "I wonder." He is a good listener who asks questions and puts people at ease, says a senior Vatican official. "After five minutes you forget you're talking to the Pope. It is like friends talking over coffee." Though he devotes much of his attention to weighty subjects, there are also lighter moments. "He likes to tell stories, anecdotes, jokes," says this official. "He has a good sense of humor."
(http://www.cnn.com/ALLPOLITICS/1998/01/19/time/mcgeary.html)
