For the Catholic faithful, this piece of
news will definitely be hard to stomach: Pope Francis says he has only
two or three years to
live.
Although the Argentina-born Pontiff was
silent on why he thinks he would not live for more than three years, he
hinted that he had ‘some nerve problems’ which require treatment.
He spoke with journalists aboard his jet as he returned from a trip to South Korea.
Francis, according to the Mailonline
on Tuesday, also mentioned the possibility of retiring from the Papacy
if his health failed to cope with the rigours of his office.
His predecessor, Benedict XVI, stepped
down last year, in an unprecedented move that opened the way for Francis
to become the Pope.
“I see it as the generosity of the
people of God. I try to think of my sins, my mistakes, not to become
proud. Because I know it will last only a short time,” the pope said.
Then, apparently light-heartedly, he added, “Two or three years and then I’ll be off to the Father’s house.”
A Vatican source, said the Mailonline
had claimed that the Pope had previously told those close to him that
he thought he only had a few years to live.
Although Francis is 77, he has been the most vigorous Pope in years, his energy proving the key to his popularity.
His frank admission may lead commentators to speculate as to whether he has any undisclosed health problems.
At the time of his elevation to the
Papacy, reports emerged that Francis had a lung removed when he was a
teenager in Argentina after suffering an infection.
The Mailonline quoted Dr.
William Schaffner, chairman of preventive medicine at Vanderbilt
University Medical Centre in Nashville, Tennessee in United States, to
have said, “So whatever they did got him over that precarious period. As
people age, they generally become more susceptible to lung infections,
such as pneumonia and bronchitis.”
The risk of lung infections increases if
those affected have pre-existing conditions such as a weakened immune
system or heart disease.
But Francis joked about the nervous
problems, saying, “I must treat them well, these nerves, give them mate
(an Argentine stimulant tea) every day.”
“One of these neuroses, is that I’m too
much of a homebody,” he added and recalled that the last time he had
taken a holiday outside of Argentina was with the Jesuit community in
1975.
Resigning the papacy, as his predecessor
Benedict XVI did last year, was also a possibility “even if it does not
appeal to some theologians”, Francis told the journalists.
He added that 60 years ago, it was practically unheard of for Catholic bishops to retire, but nowadays it was common.
As the jet travelled through the
airspace, Francis also addressed the issues surrounding the Catholic
Church in China, a country which refuses to allow Catholics to
officially recognise the spiritual leadership of the Vatican.
Since the communist revolution,
Catholicism, like all religions, has been permitted to operate only
under the supervision of the State Administration for Religious Affairs.
Clerics who resisted this had been subjected to oppression, including long imprisonment torture and even martyrdom.
Pope Francis told the journalists he
wanted dialogue with China and the only thing he asked in return was for
the Catholic Church to be able to operate freely.
Source:Punch Newspaper
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