This five-day visit to Canada confirmed to Pope Francis that the time of long journeys filled with multiple daily public events undoubtedly belong to a bygone era for him. During the press conference he held on the plane that brought him back from Canada, on the night of Friday July 29 to Saturday July 30, François explained his intention to continue to do so, however. “I will try to continue to travel”, he said. But he doesn’t think he can “keep the same pace of travel as before”. “I believe that at my age, and with these limits, I have to save a little to be able to serve the Church”he admitted.
The three Canadian stops (Edmonton, Quebec and Iqualuit), with thousands of kilometers covered, several time zone changes and reduced mobility due to the use of a wheelchair, were a test for the Vatican. The Argentine pope drew a conclusion stated without false modesty and with simplicity: “I think I have to limit myself a bit with these efforts. Perhaps we need to change the style a bit, reduce, restructure [les voyages]. »
Since May, knee pain, caused at least in part by a fracture, has prevented him from taking more than a few steps and forced him to use a wheelchair most of the time. Knee surgery could probably be considered, he suggested: “The doctors tell me yes. » But he himself refuses it. “In my case, it does not fit”, he says. The six-hour anesthesia he underwent a year ago for a partial colon removal left him with bad memories. “I still have consequenceshe said. And we’re not kidding about that. »
Blur on the next trips
The movements of the coming months are taking shape, but with a certain vagueness. In September, he should go to Kazakhstan, where an interreligious meeting will be held and where he hopes to be able to meet for the second time Kirill, the patriarch of Moscow. “It’s a quiet trip, without travel”, he argued. He would also like to go to Ukraine, which will probably be less peaceful. “We will now see what I find when I go to Kyiv”he said.
A visit planned for the beginning of July in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and South Sudan had to be postponed at the last moment, because of his knee, precisely. François announced that he would probably split these two destinations, with a trip to South Sudan first, “because it is a trip with the Archbishop of Canterbury and with the Bishop of the Church of Scotland”. The DRC will come after, “but it will be next year, [après] the rainy season “. “Me, I have all the good will, but we’ll see what my leg tells me”he anticipated.
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