The U.S. National Security Agency (NSA) has denied reports of eavesdropping on the phone calls of the Pope and his cardinals as part of their international spying operation as alleged by the Italy's Panorama magazine.
The statement comes as the magazine alleged that the NSA had monitored Vatican communications as part of the 46 million conversations tapped between December 2012 and January 2013, Time World reports.
The magazine alleges that the NSA intercepted calls in and out of the cardinals' accommodations, in advance of the papal conclave at which Pope Francis was elected.
It further claimed that Vatican calls were flagged for special treatment and classified by the NSA under four categories named "leadership intentions," "threats to financial system," "foreign policy objectives" and "human rights".
It also accused the NSA of listening in to telephone calls from the accommodation of Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio, just before his election, the report added.