The 85-year-old pope said today that he can no longer travel as he used to because of strained ligaments in his knees. The comments come after a week-long trip to Canada in which he apologized to indigenous peoples for the injustice they suffered at Catholic church schools.
The Pope said the trip was a “test” and showed him that he needed to slow down and retire at some point.
During a press conference, he brushed aside concerns about changing popes.
He said, “It’s not strange. It’s not a disaster. You can change the Pope.”
He said he was not considering stepping down immediately, but acknowledged that he needed to “take it easy”.
Earlier this month, the Pope spoke about the retirement of his predecessor, Pope Emeritus Benedict. He claimed the transition had worked “pretty well.”
He said: “I think at my age and with these limitations I should save [my energy] to be able to serve the Church, or on the contrary, to consider the possibility of stepping aside.”
The Pope was bombarded with questions about the future after he was seen using a wheelchair, walker and cane to get around.
During his trip to Canada, there were several times when Pope Francis was clearly struggling or even in pain when he rose from his seat. The strained ligaments have made it much harder for the Pope to blend in effectively with the crowd.
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The Pope was due to take a trip to Africa in early July, but ongoing laser and magnetic therapy on his knee, which he had put in charge earlier this year, kept him from the continent.
After his six-day tour of Canada, Pope Francis seemed to be in a good mood. He ruled out surgery on his knee due to lingering effects of a July 2021 surgery that removed 13 inches of his colon.
He said on Saturday (July 30): “I will try to keep doing the trips and be close to the people because I think it’s a way to serve, to be close. But I can’t say more than this. “
Canada’s Truth and Reconciliation Commission ruled in 2015 that the forcible removal of indigenous children from their parents and homes to educate them in Catholic schools constituted “cultural genocide.”
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Pope Francis said, “It’s true I didn’t use the word because it didn’t occur to me, but I was describing genocide, didn’t I? I apologized, I begged forgiveness for this work, which was genocide.”
The Catholic Church has reformed several of its official views under the leadership of Pope Francis, including by deeming possession of nuclear weapons immoral and deeming the death penalty immoral in all cases.
In September, he will travel to Kazakhstan for an interfaith conference where he is likely to meet Russian Orthodox Patriarch Kirill, who has justified Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
The Pope has also expressed a desire to visit Kiev, but no trip has been arranged to date.