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ROME | TASS | Pope Francis may resign like his predecessor Benedict XVI if he is unable to cope with his duties for health reasons, Cardinal Gianfranco Ravasi said.
However, Ravasi noted in an interview with the Corriere della Sera newspaper that Francis wanted to see through the 2025 Jubilee Year of Christianity celebrated by the Roman Catholic Church.
“If Pope Francis has difficulties in fulfilling his papal duties, he will make his own decision. I think he may choose to resign. It’s up to him, he has the final say. The pope has a great desire to have a Jubilee Year dedicated to hope. It is important for him,” the cardinal said.
The 88-year-old Francis has been in the hospital since February 14, suffering from bilateral pneumonia. Media outlets started speculating about the pontiff’s possible near demise and about the following conclave (closed assembly of cardinals for the election of a pope). Another option is abdication: Francis himself has repeatedly said that Benedict XVI, who will forever be remembered as the first pontiff in 600 years to resign from the job, “paved the way for successors.” The Pope even said that he signed a letter of abdication that would be taken into account if he lost capacity. He noted that he gave it to the Vatican’s former Secretary of State Tarcisio Bertone, and had no idea of where it could currently be (probably with Cardinal Pietro Parolin, the Vatican’s current secretary of state).
On his part, Cardinal Matteo Zuppi, the president of the Italian Episcopal Conference, said comforting words about Pope Francis’ health. “We are all worried, but the fact that he is getting up, reading newspapers and receiving visitors [Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni visited Pope Francis on February 19] indicates that he is recovering,” he stressed.
