(Vatican City) By embarking, at the age of 87, on his longest and most distant journey since his election in 2013, Pope Francis is taking on an ambitious gamble that many did not believe in, a way of silencing doubts about his ability to carry out his duties.
32,000 km, 43 hours of flight, 12 days and 16 speeches: the journey of the head of the Catholic Church to four countries in South-East Asia and Oceania (Indonesia, Papua New Guinea, East Timor, Singapore) at the beginning of September has the appearance of a record-breaking odyssey.
We had to wait until the 12the year of his pontificate, three months before his 88th birthday, to see him make this trip, a promise he had been keen to honour since its postponement in 2020 in the midst of the COVID-19 crisis.
Yet, just a few weeks ago, few observers considered him capable of this, and the corridors of the Vatican were buzzing with doubts, so much had the health of the Argentinian pontiff aroused concern.
At Easter, Francis, who has been suffering from respiratory problems and has been using a wheelchair since 2022, cancelled several engagements, weakened by a bout of flu which has rekindled speculation about his state of health.
A year after a major abdominal operation, some are asking themselves: is it reasonable to chain together giant masses in stadiums, ceremonies and meetings, with up to eight hours of time difference at a frantic pace?
“The pope still believes in pushing a little further,” a senior Vatican official recently confided. “He feels capable of making the trip this year. Next year, it will be less certain.”
Usual protocol
Far from wanting to reduce his sails, Jorge Bergoglio, who has repeated that he does not plan to give up as long as his health allows, considers these trips as the cornerstone of his ministry.
With this 45e travels abroad, the Argentinian Jesuit, who has become the oldest pope in history to travel, returns to his vocation as a field pastor: far from the bureaucracy of the Roman Curia, which he does not appreciate, contact with the crowds seems to give him new impetus.
The constraints linked to his state of health are nevertheless real: now unable to climb stairs, he must use a freight elevator to reach the plane.
PHOTO GUGLIELMO MANGIAPANE, REUTERS ARCHIVES
Pope Francis has been suffering from respiratory problems and has been using a wheelchair since 2022.
If the Pope is traveling with his personal physician and a nurse, the medical system does not foresee “any new developments” for this trip, according to a Vatican source. “His general condition is good, there was no alert this summer,” it said.
A temple of secrecy, the Vatican says nothing about this sensitive issue. No details on the precautions of the organizers, such as possible protocols with local hospitals. During his trip to Africa in early 2023, an ultra-equipped ambulance followed the pope everywhere, ready to intervene.
The trip’s schedule was nevertheless adjusted, with a day of rest in Jakarta after a 13-hour flight.
“Mental strength”
In the Vatican, this trip arouses “admiration” for his self-denial in continuing his mission despite criticism, a Vatican source told AFP. But also “concern, and even a certain annoyance at the Pope’s relentlessness, which puts his health and security services on edge.”
For Professor Andrea Ungar, president of the Italian Society of Gerontology, “this trip demonstrates once again the mental strength of the Pope and shows how, despite his age, one can still act […] The more you stop, the more sedentary you become. Strong motivation gives incredible energy.”
The main question mark remains how the Pope, who has already had to cancel trips for health reasons, will react to so many requests.
Francis has not traveled abroad since his visit to Marseille in September 2023, his longest “international break” except for the pandemic-hit year of 2020.
Especially since this tour is part of an extremely busy return to school: having barely returned to Rome, he will leave again for a visit to Luxembourg and Belgium at the end of September, before a month of October devoted to the Synod on the future of the Church.
And in December, he is due to kick off the 2025 Jubilee, a major year of pilgrimages to Rome for which 32 million faithful are expected. Another sign, if one were needed, that Francis is more than ever at the helm.