‘I had only seen the Pope once before, from St Peter’s Square when I lived in Rome, I would never have imagined that the Pope would pick up a telephone and call me and speak to me as if I was a dear friend. He reassured me and said a child was a gift from God, a sign of Divine Providence and that I would never be left alone. He said that as Christians we should never be afraid.

‘He told me I had been very brave and strong for my unborn child. I told him that I wanted to baptise the baby when it was born but I was afraid as I was divorced and a single mother but he said he would be my spiritual father and he would baptise my baby.

‘I’m not sure if he will, I feel as if I am dreaming but if he did baptise my baby it would be something else, that telephone call has changed my life.

‘I hope my letter will be an example for other women who feel they may be distant from the Church simply because they have chosen the wrong man, they are divorced or they are with men who are not worthy of being fathers. I don’t know the sex of the baby but if the Pope does baptise it and it’s a boy I have no doubt of his name – Francis.’