Church: Pope Francis could resign

A weak pope in a wheelchair. In Canada, the sovereign pontiff appeared in less good health than usual. He suffers from knee pain and cannot undergo surgery. He did not tolerate a previous general anesthesia badly. So, on the plane taking him back to Rome, he opens an exit door for the first time: “I don’t think I can keep the same pace of travel as before. I think that at my age, I have to spare myself to be able to serve the Church or, on the contrary, think about the possibility of putting myself aside”. A pope who plans to retire is not unheard of. It happened for the first time with Benedict XVI, who seems to have paved the way. The sovereign pontiff could always stay by reducing the pace of his travels, but that will become difficult to maintain. A pope who no longer travels is a Catholic Church that is losing influence.

It remains to be seen until what date he will remain. A consistory is organized prematurely at the end of August to designate new cardinals, the same ones who then compose the conclave when it is necessary to designate a new pope. A sign among others questions. “We know that just before the consistory scheduled for the end of August, he will go to L’Aquila to pray at the tomb of Celestine V. It is exactly the same gesture as his predecessor Benedict XVI”, explains Frédéric Mounier, a former journalist and writer. The pope has also just postponed a trip to Africa, but he still plans to go there later. He also wants to go to kyiv, but the trip is long and must be done mainly by train, which may affect his state of health.