Pope: I’m in good health. For my age, I’m normal
Pontiff speaks on future papacy ahead of his 10th anniversary
Pope Francis says he hasn’t even considered issuing norms to regulate future papal resignations and plans to continue for as long as he can as bishop of Rome, despite a wave of attacks by some top-ranking cardinals and bishops.
In his first interview since the December 31 death of retired Pope Benedict XVI, Francis addressed his health, his critics and the next phase of his pontificate, which marks its 10th anniversary in March without Benedict’s shadow in the background.
“I’m in good health. For my age, I’m normal,” the 86-year-old pontiff said Tuesday, though he revealed that diverticulosis, or bulges in his intestinal wall, had “returned.”
Francis had 33cm of his large intestine removed in 2021 because of what the Vatican said was inflammation that caused a narrowing of his colon.
He added that a slight bone fracture in his knee from a fall had healed without surgery after laser and magnet therapy.
‘It’s under control’
“I might die tomorrow, but it’s under control. I’m in good health,” he told AP in an interview.
Speculation about Francis’ health and the future of his pontificate has only risen following the death of Benedict.
Some commentators believe Francis might be freer to manoeuvre now that Benedict, who lived out his 10-year retirement in the Vatican, is gone. Others suggest that any sort of ecclesial peace that had reigned was over and that Francis is now more exposed to critics, deprived of the moderating influence Benedict played in keeping the conservative Catholic fringe at bay.
Francis acknowledged the knives were out, but seemed almost sanguine about it.
‘I lost a dad’
“I wouldn’t relate it to Benedict, but because of the wear-and-tear of a government of 10 years,” Francis said of his papacy. At first, his election was greeted with a sense of “surprise” about a South American pope, then came discomfort “when they started to see my flaws and didn’t like them,” he said.
“The only thing I ask is that they do it to my face because that’s how we all grow, right?” he added.
Francis praised Benedict as a “gentleman,” and said of his death: “I lost a dad.”
“For me, he was a security. In the face of a doubt, I would ask for the car and go to the monastery and ask,” he said of his visits to Benedict’s retirement home for counsel. “I lost a good companion.”