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Pope Francis: Waiver of Medical Emergencies is in place

2022-12-18T17:36:42.579Z


Since Pope Francis has been ailing, there have been rumors of a possible resignation. Now the pontiff says: A resignation in the event of illness has long been in writing.


Enlarge image

Pope Francis: "You rule with your head and not with your knees."

Photo: ANDREAS SOLARO / AFP

In his own words, Pope Francis has already signed his resignation in case he is no longer able to hold office.

"I've already signed my waiver," said the 86-year-old in an interview with Spanish newspaper ABC.

He did that when Tarcisio Bertone was still Cardinal Secretary of State, the pontiff said.

He signed the relevant letter and said to Bertone: "In the event of a medical impediment or whatever, here is my resignation.

There you have it.” However, he does not know what Bertone did with the letter, Francis continued.

The document probably ended up with the subsequent Secretary of State, Cardinal Pietro Parolin.

Bertone held the second-highest office in the church state until October 15, 2013.

Jorge Mario Bergoglio became Pope Francis on March 13 of the same year.

Bertone was considered a confidant of Pope Benedict XVI, who is now emeritus and who spectacularly resigned as pontiff at the end of February 2013.

"He's a great man," Francis said of Benedict, speaking to ABC.

He still meets him often.

Born in Bavaria, he has a “good sense of humor, is clear, very lively, speaks quietly, but follows the conversation”.

»A completely normal option«

Francis, who turned 86 on Saturday, has been suffering from pain in his right knee for a long time.

He has been using a cane or a wheelchair for months.

The pope doesn't seem to have lost his sense of humor.

When asked by the ABC reporter how his knee was doing, he said he was walking again and the decision not to operate was the right one.

Responding to the journalist's impression that the pontiff's agenda had tripled despite the wheelchair, Francis said: "One governs with one's head and not with one's knees."

The Pope's physical ailments had fueled speculation about a possible resignation.

'The door is open.

That's a completely normal option," said the Argentine at the end of July on the return flight from Canada to Italy.

Before that, he had stated in an interview that if he resigned he wanted to stay in Rome, but not in the Vatican, and that in this case he would be “Bishop Emeritus of Rome”.

That would be a different status than that of the Pope Emeritus, which Benedict XVI.

Has.

ala/dpa

Source: spiegel

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