Vatican City – How are you? “I’m still alive!”. Francesco denies that a . has been found cancer during L ‘Colon surgery last year
They didn’t tell me anything about this! They gossip about court…He also denies what was reported about his resignation in August: “But it never crossed my mind! Not nowAt the moment, no, really! ».

Pope Francis speaks to US news agency Reuters, not surprising: especially in The United States, the epicenter of opposition to Bergogliorumors of illness or resignation recur and spread, as happened last summer, are immediately denied.

In an interview with reporter Philip Pullella, among other things, Francesco said that his right knee was improving and after the trip to Canada at the end of July He would like to go to both Moscow and Kiev as soon as possibleif possible already in September.

The Pope also talks about miscarriage He repeats the church’s condemnation, but about the US Supreme Court ruling, he says he respects it but has not yet studied its legal aspects.

Resignation rumors were born in order to choose Visit L’Aquila On August 28 and the celebration of Mass in front of the Collemaggio church which houses it Ordnance Celestino V, Papa “The Great Refusal”. He recalled that Benedict XVI had already done so before his resignation, without specifying that Ratzinger went to L’Aquila on April 28, 2009, four years before his resignation.

The Washington Post He arrived at the honorary name: “Is Francis near the end of his pontificate?” Many, without understanding, cited a joke of the bishops during the General Assembly of the IEC at the end of May: “Instead of an operation, I resign!” , followed by laughter.

It is now known that Francesco has so far resisted the advice of doctors to position himself knee replacementpreferably to restrain himself offside. But some bishops said that the Pope courierHe also said: That To judge they say you need the head and not the legsand then as long as the head works.

And so Francis repeats, as he has repeatedly made clear in the past, to Reuters. One day he may resign if illness makes it impossible for him to lead the church: If and when it could happen «We don’t know, we don’t know. Not at the moment, really. But the moment has come, when I see that I cannot do it, I will, and that is the great example of Pope Benedict, it was a good thing for the Church, he told the Popes to stop in time. It’s great, Benedict. God will say“.

As for the knee
talk about a The ‘small fracture’ of magnetic, laser and infiltration therapy“I’m fine, I’m getting better slowly,” he confirms.

Speaking of the situation in Ukraine, Francesco says so There were contacts between Vatican Foreign Minister Petro Parolin and Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov. On a possible trip to Moscow, which did not receive an answer, as already explained in the interview with the director courierLuciano Fontana.

But the Vatican insists and is always ready in case: “I would like to go to Ukraine, and I wanted to go to Moscow first. We exchanged letters about this, because I thought that if the Russian president would give me a small window to serve the cause of peace… Now it is possible, after I have returned from Canada, that I will be able to go to Ukraine. The first thing is to go to Russia to try to help in some way. I would like to go to both capitals.”

As for the US Supreme Court’s ruling repealing the constitutional right to abortion, the Pope says he “respects the decision” but “doesn’t have enough information to talk about it from a legal point of view.” However, he repeats the condemnation of abortion, likening it to “hire a professional killer”, in harsh terms he had already used in the past: “I ask: Is it legitimate, is it right, to take a human life to solve a problem? A problem?”.

As for American bishops who deny communion to politicians in favor of abortion laws, such as Joe Biden or Nancy Pelosi, Francis again makes clear that he disagrees: “When the church loses its pastoral nature, when the bishop loses his pastoral nature, it creates a political problem.”

The interview took place on Saturday afternoon, the day he was supposed to leave Congo and the South Sudan. Francesco did not go for the knee pain and continued treatment: doctors told him that he would also have to give up the trip to Canada, July 24-30, if he did not agree to undergo another 20 days of treatment and rest for the duration of the right knee. A choice that caused him “a lot of suffering”, because he wanted to promote peace in the two countries.