Using a wheelchair is humiliating, admits Pope Francis

THE Pope says he feels humiliated and “old” because he is now forced to use a wheelchair as a result of acute pain in his knee.

In comments that will fuel speculation about whether he might step down, Pope Francis, 86, said he has “less physical strength” than he did when he succeeded Pope Benedict XVI a decade ago.

If he began to feel too much “tiredness” or a lack of mental acuity, then he could follow the example of Benedict and resign from the papacy, he said.

The Pope made the remarks in an interview with Swiss state radio and television to be broadcast on Sunday, the day before he marks the 10th anniversary of his election to the papacy. Extracts were published yesterday by three Italian newspapers.

Pope Benedict, who died on December 31 aged 95, became the first pontiff to resign in about 600 years when he stepped down in 2013.

Asked what would lead him to make the same decision, Francis said: “A tiredness that doesn’t make you see things clearly. A lack of clarity, of knowing how to evaluate situations.”

He said he felt a little “ashamed” to have to use a wheelchair on trips abroad and public appearances in St Peter’s Square. “I am old. I have less physical resistance,” he said. “The knee [problem] was a physical humiliation, even if the recovery is going well now.”