Pope Francis suggested on Monday
that he might one day resign the papacy, which would make him the
second consecutive pontiff to do so after an almost 600 years.
The
pope said that his predecessor Benedict XVI had opened the door for
papal resignations with his decision to stand down last year, the first
example since Pope Gregory XII in 1415. “Some theologians may say this
is not right, but I think this way,” he said in a lighthearted exchange
with reporters returning to Rome from a trip to South Korea.
“Let us think about what Benedict XVI said, ‘I have got old, I do not
have the strength.’ It was a beautiful gesture of nobility, of humility
and courage.”
He added: "But you could
say to me, if you at some time felt you could not go forward, I would
do the same." Asked about his immense popularity, the 77-year-old joked
that he would probably die soon so should not get too proud: “I know
this will last a short time, two or three years, and then to the house
of the Father.” Pope Francis also said he had some nerve problems that
he treated with a South American tea-like drink called Mate, and that he had not taken a vacation away from home since 1975.
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