Pope Francis denies rumours that he may be stepping down soon due to health problems. However, he hopes to be able to travel to Kyiv and Moscow soon.
“It never occurred to me,” the pope said in an interview with Reuters news agency. “Not at the moment!” The interview was conducted on Saturday at his residence in the Vatican.
The Pope had to cancel a trip to Africa in early July due to severe pain in the right knee. That pain has sparked speculation in recent weeks about a possible resignation of the pope, like his predecessor Benedict XVI.
Francis, admittedly, reiterated that he could resign from office if his health prevented him from leading the Church. Asked about when that might happen, he replied: “We don’t know. God will tell.”
The pope noted that he suffered a “minor fracture” to the knee. He denied rumours that he was diagnosed with cancer during an operation in July 2021. He dismissed that as “court gossip”.
He ruled that it is “possible” that he would go to Ukraine after his return from Canada at the end of July. “The first thing is going to Russia to try and help in some way, but I would like to go to both capitals,” he said.