Pope Francis reveals he wanted to become a butcher

Pope Francis has revealed that as a little boy he wanted to become a butcher.

In an interview with Dutch newspaper Straatnieuws, which is written by and for homeless people, he said he never dreamed of one day becoming Pope.

"I'll tell you a little secret," he said. "I was very little. I was four years old.

"One time they asked me what I wanted to be when I grew up and I said: 'a butcher'".

Francis said it was because he often went with his mother and grandmother to shop at a local market as there were no other stores in the Argentine neighbourhood where he grew up.

Since his election in 2013, the Pope has stressed he wants a church that is poor and for the poor.

He has urged Church leaders to live simpler lives and set the example himself by relinquishing the spacious papal apartments for a small suite in the Vatican guest house.

"It would have meant being isolated ... this place does me good because I feel free," he said, adding that his current lifestyle made the Vatican feel "less of a gilded cage".

The Vatican has auctioned off gifts given to the pope in lotteries and given the proceeds to the poor.