Pope jokes he`s a pharmacist, prescribing prayers

Vatican City: Joking that he`s like a pharmacist, Pope Francis is promoting prayer as medicine for the heart.

Appearing today at his studio window, Francis held up a rosary in a box designed to resemble a packet of pills, before volunteers distributed thousands of those boxes, which feature a design of a human heart.

Francis said he was recommending reciting the rosary prayer as a "spiritual medicine" that is "good for the heart." Francis` down-to-earth way of speaking, in a style ordinary people can readily understand, is drawing larger than usual crowds to St Peter`s Square for his traditional weekly appearances. About 80,000 tourists and Romans packed the square today.