POPE FRANCIS FORCED TO SUSPEND ACTIVITIES DUE TO PAINS

Pope Francis falls in Poland, July 2016 - ©Reuters

Source - ACI Prensa

Pope Francis suspended all activities scheduled on his agenda for this Tuesday, April 26, on medical advice.

The Holy See Press Office reported that “due to knee pain, and on medical advice, Pope Francis has interrupted the activities scheduled for today, including participation in the Council of Cardinals, whose new session is underway. these days".

On April 25, during an audience granted to the Trinitarians, the Holy Father explained that he would remain seated due to knee pain.

He joked that some time ago this pain was called "nun's disease" because the nuns "became sick from praying so much on their knees."

"This will heal, but in the meantime things must be done well," the Pope said. 
The Pope's knee pain has forced him to cancel or modify various meetings he had planned. Two recent ones were the celebration of the Divine Mercy Sunday Mass on April 24 and the celebration of the Easter Vigil in the Vatican during this Holy Week of 2022. In both Eucharists, the Holy Father did not preside, but rather participated in the seated celebration and read his homily.

On Friday, April 22, Pope Francis also canceled all his activities to carry out medical tests. Among them, an audience with an Argentine foreign minister.

On that occasion, the director of the Holy See Press Office confirmed that “the Pope has slowed down his activities today due to the medical check-ups that are necessary today. That is why the agenda is empty today.

The Pope's health
During the General Audience on January 26, Pope Francis joked about knee pain that prevented him from reaching waiting pilgrims.

Before imparting the final blessing, the Holy Father explained to the faithful gathered in Paul VI Hall that he would not be able to walk the corridors, as he traditionally does, to greet those present due to a health problem.

“Let me explain that today I will not be able to be among you to greet you, because I have a problem with my right leg; a ligament in my knee is inflamed. But I will go down to greet you there and you will come to greet me, ”said the Pope, indicating a chair in which he later sat down to bless some people.

Regarding his health problem, the Holy Father added on that occasion: “It is something temporary. They say this only happens to old people, and I don't know why it happened to me...”, he concluded smiling as people applauded.

Pope Francis, 85, was hospitalized at the A. Gemelli polyclinic hospital in Rome due to a scheduled intestinal surgery to which he underwent on July 4 and for which he remained in the hospital for ten days for his recovery.

After being discharged on July 14 morning, before returning to the Vatican, the Pope went to the Basilica of Saint Mary Major "where he prayed in front of the iconic Virgin of the Salvation of the Roman People to give thanks for the good result of his surgical operation”, reported then the Press Office of the Holy See.

According to the doctors, the Pope's surgical operation was for "diverticular stenosis" in the final part of the colon and consisted of "a left hemicolectomy that lasted about three hours."

Colonic stricture is a condition in which part of the large intestine becomes narrower than usual. It can be dangerous if, due to its narrowness, it begins to prevent the safe passage of food.

Previously, at the end of December 2020 and in January 2021, the Pope was absent for various commitments in the Vatican "due to an inflammation of the sciatica nerve".

The events that the Pope canceled on that occasion were: the prayer of vespers on December 31 with the Te Deum , the Mass on January 1, the Eucharist on January 24 - Sunday of the Word of God -, the audience with the Diplomatic Corps before the Holy See on January 25 in the morning and the prayer of vespers for the conclusion of the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity.