FILE - Pope Francis is helped by his aide Monsignor Leonardo Sapienza, left, as he walks with a cane to his weekly general audience in St. Peter's Square at The Vatican, on June 1, 2022. Pope Francis has revealed in an interview published Sunday Dec. 18, 2022 that shortly after being elected pontiff in 2013 he wrote a resignation letter in case medical problems impede him from carrying out duties. (AP Photo/Gregorio Borgia, File)
Vatican Resignation Contingency
ROME (AP) — Pope Francis has revealed that shortly after being elected pontiff in 2013 he wrote a resignation letter in case medical problems impede him from carrying out his duties.
In an interview published by Spanish newspaper ABC, Francis said he gave the note to the cardinal who then was the Vatican secretary of state, and he presumes the current cardinal in that role now has the instruction. Francis, who turned 86 on Saturday, has had surgery to repair a bowel narrowing and has been hobbled by knee pain that for months saw him use a wheelchair.
Now he increasingly uses a cane. Francis played down the mobility issue, saying, “You don’t govern with your knee.”
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