VATICAN CITY – Pope Francis has warned priests can become “little monsters” if they aren’t trained properly as seminarians, saying their time studying must be used to mold their hearts as well as their minds.

He also warned against accepting men for the priesthood who may have been implicated in sexual abuse or other problems, saying the protection of the Catholic faithful is most important.

The pontiff made the comments Nov. 29 during a closed-door meeting of 120 superiors of religious orders who gathered at the Vatican for their regular assembly. On Friday, the Jesuit journal La Civilta Cattolica provided a report of the three-hour, informal question-and-answer session. The Vatican never provided its own transcript of the meeting.

The magazine, which interviewed Francis last year, quoted the first Jesuit pope as telling the superiors he wants them to “wake up the world” with their work, particularly with the poor.

The training of priests, too, he said, must be a “work of art, not a police action.

“We must form their hearts. Otherwise, we are creating little monsters. And then these little monsters mold the people of God. This really gives me goose bumps,” he was quoted as saying.

In his remarks to the superiors, Francis flagged as a risk the “huge problem” of accepting into the seminary someone who already has been asked to leave another religious institute and cited Pope Benedict XVI’s tough line on priests who commit sexual abuse.

The Civilta Cattolica report didn’t elaborate on his comments or on how “huge” a problem this was. The priestly sexual abuse scandal has mostly concerned abusive priests who were transferred from parish to parish – not problem seminarians who were kicked out of one institute only to be picked up again by another.

“The temptation, that maybe many of us experience, and many other people have, comes to mind; that of linking the proclamation of the Gospel with inquisitorial beatings of condemnation. No, the Gospel is preached gently, fraternally, with love,” he said.