Pope Francis is not a Marxist, he says. But he's not bothered by American conservatives who have hung the label on him. The new pope said "The Marxist ideology is wrong. But I have met many Marxists in my life who are good people, so I don't feel offended."

Pope Francis was recently selected as TIME's Person of the Year. He will be marking his first Christmas as pope. Francis turns 77 on Tuesday.

Pope Francis has been critical of capitalism, plans for reform and world suffering, but he defended his criticism by U.S. conservatives who are saying that Pope Francis is teaching Marxism.

Last month, Rush Limbaugh, the United States conservative radio talk show host Rush Limbaugh called Pope Francis' criticisms "pure Marxism coming out of the mouth of the pope." Limbaugh also suggested that someone else wrote Francis' statements.

In an interview with the Italian daily magazine La Stampa, Pope Francis also denied recent reports saying he was going to name a woman cardinal. He said "Women in the church must be valued, not 'clericalised.' Those thinking about women cardinals are suffering a bit from clericalism."

Francis said the Vatican is making good progress cleaning up its finances. The pope also  confirmed that he plans to visit Israel and Palestine next year. Pope Francis said he  plans to commence the 50th anniversary of Paul VI's first papal visit to the Holy Land by returning to meet his "brother" Bartholomew, the Patriarch of Constantinople, as his predecessor did in 1964.

The Holy See discounted claims by Limbaugh, saying "The promise was that when the glass was full, it would overflow, benefitting the poor. But what happens instead, is that when the glass is full, it magically gets bigger nothing ever comes out for the poor. This was the only reference to a specific theory. I was not, I repeat, speaking from a technical point of view but according to the Church's social doctrine. This does not mean being a Marxist."