Pope Francis had a moving encounter on the outskirts of Rome yesterday with a young boy whose father had died and who wanted to know if his dad would go to heaven as he was a 'good man' despite being a non-believer.

In what has become a routine question and answer session with youngsters, Pope Francis was taking questions at St Paul of the Cross parish when it got to Emanuele's turn. The small boy smiled at the pope as he approached the microphone, but then froze. 'I can't do it,' Emanuele said.

A papal aide, Msgr Leonardo Sapienza, encouraged the boy, but the child repeated, 'I can't' and covered his eyes as he cried.

Then the pope intervened. 'Come, come to me, Emanuele,' Francis said. 'Come and whisper it in my ear.'

After Msgr Sapienza helped the boy up to the platform where the pope was seated, Francis gave him a big hug, patting his head and speaking to him softly while their heads touched and the pair spoke privately to one another before Emanuele returned to his seat.

'If only we could all cry like Emanuele when we have an ache in our hearts like he has,' the pope told the gathering of children. 'He was crying for his father and had the courage to do it in front of us because in his heart there is love for his father.'

Pope Francis shared the boy's question with permission. 'A little while ago my father passed away. He was a nonbeliever, but he had all four of his children baptized. He was a good man. Is dad in heaven?'

The pope said: 'How beautiful to hear a son say of his father, "He was good". And what a beautiful witness of a son who inherited the strength of his father, who had the courage to cry in front of all of us. If that man was able to make his children like that, then it's true, he was a good man. He was a good man.

'That man did not have the gift of faith, he wasn't a believer, but he had his children baptized. He had a good heart,' Pope Francis said. 'God is the one who says who goes to heaven,' he added.

He added that the next step when it comes to answering Emanuele's question would be to think about what God is like. 'What do you think? A father's heart. God has a dad's heart. And with a dad who was not a believer, but who baptized his children and gave them that bravura, do you think God would be able to leave him far from himself?'

The pope asked: 'Does God abandon his children? Does God abandon his children when they are good?'

'No!' shouted the children.

'There, Emanuele, that is the answer,' Pope Francis told the boy. 'God surely was proud of your father, because it is easier as a believer to baptize your children than to baptize them when you are not a believer. Surely this pleased God very much.'

The pope then encouraged Emanuele to 'talk to your dad; pray to your Dad'.