Pope Francis, who turned 88 last month and asked an aide to read a serious speech last week resulting from a chilly, says in a recent book that he feels healthy and has no plans to resign as leader of the worldwide Catholic Church.
“I’m well,” the pontiff states in an autobiography on sale in greater than 100 countries on Tuesday. “The reality is, quite simply, that I’m old.”
The pope, who now often uses a wheelchair resulting from knee and back pain, says: “The Church is governed using the top and the guts, not the legs.”
Francis, originally from Argentina and the primary pope from Latin America, has led the 1.4 billion-member Church since 2013.
He has suffered from influenza and related problems several times over up to now two years. He also had surgery in 2021 to deal with a painful condition called diverticulitis, and again in 2023 to repair a hernia.
“Each time a pope takes unwell, the winds of a conclave all the time feel as in the event that they are blowing,” Francis states within the book, referring to the key meeting of Catholic cardinals that can at some point elect the following pontiff.
“The reality is that even through the days of surgery I never considered resigning,” he says.
The recent volume, titled “Hope”, is the second of two books in two years by the pope, following a memoir released in March 2024.
Mondadori, the book’s Italian publisher, said the brand new volume was originally planned by Francis to be released after his death. But the pope decided it should as an alternative be published through the ongoing Catholic Holy Year, which can also be specializing in the theme of hope.
Over the 303-page volume, the pope reviews his life growing up in Buenos Aires, his profession as a bishop in Argentina, and a number of the decisions he has made as leader of the worldwide Church.
Francis strongly defends a 2024 decision to permit priests to supply blessings for same-sex couples on a case-by-case basis. That decision sparked widespread debate within the Church, with bishops in some countries, particularly in Africa, refusing to let their priests implement it.
“It is the people who find themselves blessed, not the relationships,” he states. “Everyone within the Church is invited (for a blessing), including people who find themselves divorced, including people who find themselves homosexual, including people who find themselves transgender.”
“Homosexuality just isn’t a criminal offense, it’s a human fact,” he says.
