Buenos Aires:
Pope Francis expects to die in Rome, nonetheless the Catholic pontiff, without the need of returning to commit his final days in his native Argentina, according to a new book titled “The Health of Popes.”
In an interview granted to Argentine journalist and doctor Nelson Castro at the Vatican in February 2019, the pope mentioned he thinks about death, but does not worry it.
Extracts from the book had been published Saturday in Argentine each day La Nacion.
Asked how he sees his final days, Francis, who is 84, responded: “I will be pope, either active or emeritus, and in Rome. I will not return to Argentina.”
Francis has had to cancel some events in current months due to a painful difficulty with sciatica, but is not recognized to endure any other key ailments.
The Vatican has generally been reticent about a pope’s well being.
According to the new book, “This is the first time that a pope has discussed his health with the transparency afforded by Francis.”
The pontiff, formerly the archbishop of Buenos Aires, says he does not miss his native Argentina, exactly where he was born Jorge Mario Bergoglio, the son of Italian immigrants.
“No, I do not miss it. I lived there for 76 years. What pains me are its problems” — an allusion to the financial crisis shaking the South American nation.
The pope has been vaccinated against Covid-19.
Beyond his age, the leader of the world’s 1.3 billion Catholics is regarded to be higher-threat: in 1957, aged 21, he suffered from acute pleurisy and had element of his proper lung removed.
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