Pope Francis has stated that his knee injury is improving and that he has no plans to step down anytime soon.
The announcement of new cardinals and a day trip to the Italian city of L’Aquila, which Benedict XVI visited in 2009, four years before announcing his own resignation, were the first two events that sparked reports of Francis’ resignation last month.
Pope Francis told Reuters in an interview published July 4 that “all of these coincidences made some think that the same ‘liturgy’ would happen. But it never entered my mind. For the moment no, for the moment, no. Really!”
The pope did state, as he has in the past, that if his health declined to the point where he could no longer lead the Church, he would consider resigning; however, he added that only “God will say” when that might be.
On July 2, Pope Francis granted a 90-minute interview to Reuters in the Santa Marta guesthouse at the Vatican. The reception area on the ground floor of the building is where HE frequently holds meetings.
The pope arrived for the interview with a cane, according to Reuters.
He joked, “I’m still alive!” when asked how he was doing. He also explained that he had suffered “a small fracture” in his right knee after stepping wrongly with an inflamed ligament.
The fracture is healing, he said, with the help of laser and magnet therapy. “I am well, I am slowly getting better.”
According to Pope Francis, the decision to cancel his trip to the Democratic Republic of the Congo and South Sudan, which was set to take place from July 2–7, caused him “much suffering.”
The choice was made after medical professionals advised him to rest and receive 20 more days of therapy for his knee before departing for Canada on July 24–30.
Additionally, the pope denied reports that he has cancer.
Since Francis had surgery to remove a portion of his large intestine due to diverticulitis a year ago, some reports have suggested that he has colon cancer.
“[The operation] was a great success,” he told Reuters, adding with a laugh that “they didn’t tell me anything” about the supposed cancer, which he dismissed as “court gossip.”
He continued, citing the negative side effects of a general anaesthetic as the reason he does not want to have surgery on his knee.
In the interview, Pope Francis also discussed the recent Dobbs ruling by the US Supreme Court and responded to a query about Catholic politicians who support abortion receiving Holy Communion.
He also mentioned the conflict in Ukraine and reiterated his desire to travel to Moscow and Kiev.
Even though Russian authorities informed the Vatican several months ago that it was not the right time, Francis suggested that there may now be a window of opportunity for a pope visit to Moscow.
“I would like to go [to Ukraine], and I wanted to go to Moscow first. We exchanged messages about this because I thought that if the Russian president gave me a small window to serve the cause of peace,” he said.
“And now it is possible,” he said, “after I come back from Canada, it is possible that I manage to go to Ukraine. The first thing is to go to Russia to try to help in some way, but I would like to go to both capitals.”
The pope stated that a potential trip to the Russian capital has been discussed with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov by Vatican Secretary of State Cardinal Pietro Parolin.