The Lord's prayer is spoken by the majority of the world's 2.2billion Christians, and is cited by the bible as the way Jesus taught his disciples to pray.

However Pope Francis has argued the Italian – and indeed the English translation – go against the teachings of the church.

In the much-recited prayer, followers of the faith call on God to "lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil".

Speaking to Italian broadcasters, the Pope argued this was incorrect.

He said: "It is not a good translation because it speaks of a God who induces temptation"

He added Christians in France had adapted the prayer to get around the issue.

Pope Francis said: "The French have modified the prayer to 'do not let me fall into temptation', because it is me who falls, not the Lord who tempts me to then see how I fall".

Last month the head of the Catholic church admitted that he had –f rom time to time – fallen asleep during prayer.