“You can change the Pope, it is not a catastrophe”

Francisco He has acknowledged that he contemplates his resignation as Pontiff due to his age and the health problems that he has suffered in recent times. However, the Pope has not yet thought about it, but has assured that “the door is open”. “You can change the Pope, it is not a catastrophe”has announced to the surprise of journalists on his return trip from Canada.

The Pope continues with visible discomfort in his right knee that prevent him from walking and standing for a long time, therefore, in his last public appearances he has been seen several times sitting in a wheelchair. “I don’t think he can go at the pace he used to,” he confessed inside the plane to questions from the media.

“I think that at my age and with this limitation, I have to save a little to be able to serve the Church or, on the contrary, think about the possibility of stepping aside“, Francisco assured in a press conference of more than 45 minutes.

The Vatican has chosen to remain silent in the face of the Pontiff’s statements and throughout the day they have not issued any statement in this regard. However, his words have generated concern and uncertainty before more than 1,340 million faithful who profess the Catholic religion and who observe from the outside how Francisco can resign from office at any time. It is a situation similar to that of Benedict XVIwho left office for health reasons in 2013.

Reflection of Benedict XVI

In recent months, the Pope has repeatedly denied his intention to resign from the pontificate, but today he has recognized that it may be an option if his physical condition does not allow him to have the strength to face the position. “The door is open and it is one of the options, but so far I have not knocked on this door. I haven’t felt this possibility yet, but this doesn’t mean that I won’t start thinking about it tomorrow,” she asserted.

Now, Francis is reflecting the steps taken by his predecessor, Benedict XVI, who left the throne of Saint Peter in 2013 for health reasons after almost eight years in office and with 85 years, the same ones that the Argentine Pontiff has today. The case of Ratzinger was paradigmatic, since it was the first resignation of this life position in the Catholic Church in almost 600 years.

Francisco already gave his opinion a few weeks ago in an interview with Reuters on Ratzinger’s resignation in 2013. “He was the great example of Pope Benedict. He was something very good for the Church. He told the Popes to stop in time,” he told the British agency.

Unknown for the next trips

Francisco was also asked this Saturday about his next trips after opening the door to a possible resignation due to his health problems. The Pontiff has assured that he will see how his knee evolves in the coming weeks to confirm if he can keep up with the pace scheduled on his schedule. “I have all the good will, but we’ll see what the leg says“, he stated.

When asked if he will travel to Ukraine, the Pope replied that “he would like to go” because “it is a way of being close to people and a way of serving”, but that “everything will depend on when he gets home”. However, as of today he does plan to go to the congress of religions to be held in Kazakhstan because he considers that it is “a quiet trip, without so much movement”. Also pending are visits to South Sudan and the congowhich are scheduled for next year.

For now, Francis has ruled out re-operation of the knee because the anesthesia already caused problems in the colon in the intervention that was carried out in July of last year and assures that it still has “some effects”.