Pope Francis wrote resignation note after being elected in 2013 in case of health issues – National | 24CA News
Pope Francis has revealed in an interview revealed Sunday that shortly after being elected pontiff in 2013 he wrote a resignation letter in case medical issues impede him from finishing up his duties.
Speaking to the Spanish newspaper ABC, Francis mentioned he gave the word to Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone, who then was the Vatican secretary of state. The pontiff added that he presumes that the prelate at the moment in that Vatican No. 2 function, Cardinal Pietro Parolin, now has the written instruction.
Francis, who turned 86 on Saturday, had surgical procedure in 2021 to restore a bowel narrowing and has been hobbled by knee ache that for months noticed him use a wheelchair. Lately, he has more and more used a cane as a substitute of the wheelchair to get round in public.
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Asked what occurs if well being points or an accident instantly leaves a pope unable to do his job, and whether or not there must be a rule for such situations, Francis replied, “In practice there is already a rule.”
“I have already signed my renunciation,” Francis revealed, noting that he did so early within the papacy.
“I signed it and said: `If I should become impaired for medical reasons or whatever, here is my resignation. Here you have it,”’ he mentioned, referring to Cardinal Bertone, who stepped down as secretary of state in October 2013, within the first months of Francis’ papacy.
The pontiff quipped that now that he has revealed the existence of his resignation word, “someone will run up to Bertone (saying), `Give me that piece of paper.”’
Francis mentioned he was certain Bertone would have handed on the letter to the present secretary of state, Parolin.
In previous remarks, Francis has hailed the choice of his predecessor, Pope Benedict XVI, to resign as a result of he felt resulting from advancing age he wouldn’t be finest in a position to perform his duties. Benedict, who resides in a monastery on the Vatican’s grounds, was the primary pontiff to resign in 600 years, and his stepping down paved the best way for Francis’ election as the primary pope from South America.
Francis within the interview performed down his mobility problem, saying “One governs with the head, not the knee.”
Catholic church regulation requires a papal resignation be “freely and properly manifested” _ as was the case when Benedict startled the world when he introduced his resignation to a gathering of prelates on the Vatican in February 2013.
© 2022 The Canadian Press
