Pope Francis expects to die in Rome, still the Catholic pope, without returning to spend his last days in his native Argentina, according to a new book entitled “The Health of Popes”.
In an interview with Argentine journalist and physician Nelson Castro at the Vatican in February 2019, the pope said he thought of death but did not fear it.
Excerpts from the book were published in the Argentine daily La Nacion on Saturday.
Asked how he sees his last days, Francis, who is 84, replied: “I will be pope, whether active or retired, and in Rome. I will not return to Argentina.”
Francis has had to cancel several events in recent months due to a painful problem with sciatica, but he is not known for contracting any other serious ailments.
The Vatican has always been reluctant about the health of a pope.
According to the new book, this is the first time a pope has discussed his health with the transparency Francis offers. ‘
The pope, formerly the archbishop of Buenos Aires, says he does not miss his native Argentina, where he was born Jorge Mario Bergoglio, the son of Italian immigrants.
“No, I do not miss it. I lived there for 76 years. What hurts me are its problems” – an allusion to the economic crisis that is shaking the South American country.
The pope said he was again seeking help for anxiety when he had to sneak people out of the country to save their lives during the military dictatorship.
“Imagine what it was like to take a person hidden in a car – covered only by a blanket – and pass three military checkpoints … the tension it generated was enormous.”
“I had to deal with situations I could not handle,” the pope said.
Asked if he saw a therapist, the pope said: “No, she was a psychiatrist. And over the course of the six months, she helped me find my way to deal with the fears of that era. “
The pope was vaccinated against Covid-19.
Outside of his age, the leader of the world’s 1.3 billion Catholics is considered a high risk: in 1957, at the age of 21, he suffered from acute pleurisy and part of his right lung was removed.
bur-bbk / mdl / bfm