“I can’t walk, the doctor has asked me to,” Pope Francis said on Saturday. to a group of pilgrims to explain why he did not visit the Vatican’s Paul VI hall, where he received them in audience, to greet them.
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The pope told the Argentine newspaper La Nación last week that he had torn a ligament in his knee and that he was treating it with ice and pain pills.
He said he was told the problem would pass over time, but the recovery process “is slow at this age.”
Throughout the week, Francis seemed to have difficulty walking due to the problem, which forced him to cancel some events in February and March, although weeks ago he spent two days visiting Malta, as planned.
In addition, last Wednesday he apologized for sitting through his weekly hearing, and He said knee pain has forced him to cancel several engagements in recent days.
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“I apologize because I am going to greet you sitting down, this knee has not finished healing and I cannot stand for a long time,” the pontiff said at the audience in Saint Peter’s Square.. “Excuse me for this, thank you”the 85-year-old prelate added to the applauding crowd.
