At 86 years old, many are wonder how much longer Pope Francis will remain in his spot. It may not be for much longer.
Because Pope Francis has delivered sad and shocking news about his health.
Due to a nasty cold, Pope Francis canceled one audience and skipped speeches scheduled for Thursday, according to the Vatican.
Francis, 86, did meet with young Orthodox priests, monks, and people from the Max Planck Society, a German research group that is commemorating its 75th birthday this year.
But, due to a “bad cold,” Francis only had printed versions of his remarks distributed and did not read them aloud, according to a message from the Vatican.
Later, he postponed a meeting with YMCA members from Italy, the Holy See reported in its daily bulletin.
Francis chose not to take part in the customary procession that marks the beginning of the church’s Lenten season on Wednesday because he was coughing frequently during the Ash Wednesday services he presided over at a church in Rome.
Francis also experienced a terrible cold around this time in 2020, just as the coronavirus epidemic was beginning to affect Italy. This prompted him to postpone several days of formal audiences as well as his participation in the Vatican’s annual spiritual retreat.
The retreat for this year had already been scrapped in favor of solitary spiritual practices by the Vatican.
The Argentine pope had a portion of one lung amputated when he was a young man due to a respiratory ailment, and he underwent colon surgery in 2021 due to intestinal inflammation.
Due to stretched knee ligaments and a minor knee fracture that make walking and standing challenging, he has been using a wheelchair and cane since last year.
Recently, the Pope has also made comments that suggest that it’s a possibility that he steps down as the Pope any day now.
He revealed late last year that when he assumed the office of the Pope in 2013, he signed a resignation letter to use in case his health impedes his ability to lead the Catholic Church.
NPR reports:
Pope Francis has revealed in an interview published Sunday that shortly after being elected pontiff in 2013 he wrote a resignation letter in case medical problems impede him from carrying out his duties.
“I have already signed my renunciation,” Francis said.
“I signed it and said: ‘If I should become impaired for medical reasons or whatever, here is my resignation. Here you have it,'” the Argentinian Pope added.
Pope Francis has been viewed with mixed opinions, some arguing that he’s not conservative enough for their liking, citing some questionable comments he has made about supporting the LGBT community.
Others defend him saying that he is merely trying to reach out to those who are traditionally unchurched in Christian history.
Regardless, the next Pope is going to have a ton of influence to hopefully return to the more conservative ways from the likes of Pope Benedict.
Either that, or we’ll get a Pope who continues down the path of blurring the lines of sin.
Stay tuned to the DC Daily Journal.
