Eighty five with no plans for retirement
... the whaling and gnashing of teeth from America
The far-right zealots at EWTN and the American bishops were breathless with excitement: "He is dying." "Imminent retirement."
And then Pope Francis ruined their "prayer-fest." He has no plans to resign, and his health is good except for a bad knee that relegated him to a wheelchair for a bit.
That forced him to cancel trips to Africa, to the Congo and Sudan, but it is not life-threatening. In an exclusive one-on-one interview with Reuters, he also said that the rumors about him having cancer were never true.
After all the work propagating them by the right wing media.
Instead, he has a “small fracture” in his knee, and that is all.
He walked into the interview
The reports of his failing health were dashed as he talked about his hopes to travel to the Ukraine and to try and mediate an end to that war. The interview was done without aides, and it lasted quite a while,
Pope Francis has dismissed reports that he plans to resign in the near future, saying he is on track to visit Canada this month and hopes to be able to go to Moscow and Kyiv as soon as possible after that.
In an exclusive interview in his Vatican residence, Francis also denied rumours that he had cancer, joking that his doctors "didn't tell me anything about it", and for the first time gave details of the knee condition that has prevented him carrying out some duties.In a 90-minute conversation on Saturday afternoon, conducted in Italian, with no aides present, the 85-year-old pontiff also repeated his condemnation of abortion following the U.S. Supreme Court ruling last month.
Rumours have swirled in the media that a conjunction of events in late August, including meetings with the world's cardinals to discuss a new Vatican constitution, a ceremony to induct new cardinals, and a visit to the Italian city of L'Aquila, could foreshadow a resignation announcement.
L'Aquila is associated with Pope Celestine V, who resigned the papacy in 1294. Pope Benedict XVI visited the city four years before he resigned in 2013, the first pope to do so in about 600 years.
But Francis, alert and at ease throughout the interview as he discussed a wide range of international and Church issues, laughed the idea off.
"All of these coincidences made some think that the same 'liturgy' would happen," he said. "But it never entered my mind. For the moment no, for the moment, no. Really!"
Philip Pullella, “Pope Francis denies that he is planning to
resign soon,” Reuters, July 4, 2022
So, the clanging of heads that you hear is just everyone at EWTN who wish for a return to Latin masses, to nuns with black habits, and for a return to the right-wing policies of Francis’ two predecessors, who presided over the worst decline in Catholicism in America over 35 years.
Canceling trips broke his heart
Francis indicated that his canceled trips upset him significantly,
The interview took place on the day he was to have left for Democratic Republic of Congo and South Sudan, a trip he had to cancel because doctors said he might also have to miss a trip to Canada from July 24-30 unless he agreed to have 20 more days of therapy and rest for his right knee.
He said the decision to cancel the Africa trip had caused him "much suffering", particularly because he wanted to promote peace in both countries.
Philip Pullella, Reuters, July 4, 2022
He also detailed what he would like to accomplish with the Russian-Ukraine war that drags on interminably.
The knee, and the fake news about his alleged “cancer”
The Pontiff detailed the problem that led him to a wheelchair, leading to the cheering from America from those who ignore Jesus's admonition to "love your neighbor as yourself,"
He gave details of his ailment for the first time in public, saying he had suffered "a small fracture" in the knee when he took a misstep while a ligament was inflamed.
"I am well, I am slowly getting better," he said, adding that the fracture was knitting, helped by laser and magnet therapy.
Francis also dismissed rumours that a cancer had been found a year ago when he underwent a six-hour operation to remove part of his colon because of diverticulitis, a condition common in the elderly.
"It (the operation) was a great success," he said, adding with a laugh that "they didn't tell me anything" about the supposed cancer, which he dismissed as "court gossip".
But he said he did not want an operation on his knee because the general anaesthetic in last year's surgery had had negative side-effects.
Philip Pullella, Reuters, July 4, 2022
So, for 85, he is doing very well, and nothing is hampering his ability to carry out his duties.
Trip to Moscow “iffy”
Francis also outlined what he would like to accomplish with a trip to Ukraine, but while some negotiations were taking place on adding Moscow to that trip, the possibilities are not promising,
Speaking of the situation in Ukraine, Francis noted that there have been contacts between Vatican Secretary of State Cardinal Pietro Parolin and Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov about a possible trip to Moscow.
The initial signs were not good. No pope has ever visited Moscow, and Francis has repeatedly condemned Russia's invasion of Ukraine; last Thursday he implicitly accused it of waging a "cruel and senseless war of aggression".
When the Vatican first asked about a trip several months ago, Francis said Moscow replied that it was not the right time.
But he hinted that something may now have changed.
"I would like to go (to Ukraine), and I wanted to go to Moscow first. We exchanged messages about this because I thought that if the Russian president gave me a small window to serve the cause of peace ...
"And now it is possible, after I come back from Canada, it is possible that I manage to go to Ukraine," he said. "The first thing is to go to Russia to try to help in some way, but I would like to go to both capitals."
Philip Pullella, Reuters, July 4, 2022
And the whaling and gnashing of teeth continues with American right-wingers and their compliant bishops, particularly those who had hoped to become cardinals but now realize that their hopes have been diminished even further.
And from those who complained incessantly when Nancy Pelosi was given communion at a papal mass.
Comments