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Vatican City — Pope Francis dismissed reports that he plans to resign in the near future, saying he plans to visit Canada this month and hopes to be able to go to Moscow and Kyiv as soon as possible.
In an exclusive interview at the Vatican's residence, Francis also denied rumors that he had cancer, and his doctor joked, "I didn't tell you anything about it." Having said, for the first time I gave details of the knee condition, which prevented him from fulfilling some of his duties.
Saturday afternoon, a 90-minute conversation in Italian was not attended by an aide. The 85-year-old deity has repeatedly accused abortion following a US Supreme Court ruling last month.
There are rumors in the media that it is a joint event in late August, including a meeting with the world's cardinals to discuss the new Vatican Constitution, a ceremony to introduce the new cardinal, and a visit. You can foresee the announcement of your resignation in the swirling Italian city of Laquila.
L'Aquila is associated with Pope Celestine V, who resigned as Pope in 1294. Pope Benedict XVI visited the city four years before he resigned in 2013. This is the Pope who resigned for the first time in about 600 years.
However, when Francis discussed a wide range of international and church issues, he carefully and reassuredly laughed at his thoughts through his interviews.
"Some thought that all these coincidences would result in the same'liturgy'," he said. "But that didn't come to my mind. For now, no, for now, no. Really."
But Francis is in poor health. He reiterated his well-known position that he could one day resign if he could no longer run the church. This was almost unthinkable before Benedict XVI.
When asked when he would be, he said: God will say.
KNEE INJURY
The interview took place on the day he was scheduled to leave for the Democratic Republic of the Congo and South Sudan. A trip to Canada from July 24th to 30th, unless he is treated for another 20 days and agrees to rest for his right knee.
He said the decision to cancel his trip to Africa caused him "a lot of suffering," especially because he wanted to promote peace between the two countries.
Francis steps into the drawing room on the ground floor of a guesthouse in Santa Malta, where he has lived since the 2013 elections, avoiding the pope's apartment in the apostolate. used. The palace used by his predecessor.
In the room is a copy of one of Francis' favorite paintings, "Untied Maria", made around 1700 by Joachim Schmittner of Germany.
When asked how he was, the Pope joked: "I'm still alive."
He was ill for the first time in public, saying he had a "small fracture" in his knee when he stepped off his foot when his ligaments became inflamed. I gave details.
"I'm fine, slowly getting better," he said, adding that the fracture was knitting with the help of laser and magnetic therapy.
Francis was also found to have cancer a year ago when he underwent six hours of surgery to remove part of the colon due to diverticulitis, which is common in the elderly. I rejected the rumor.
"It was a great success," he laughed, adding that "they didn't tell me anything about the possible cancer." .. "Court gossip."
However, he said he did not want knee surgery because of the negative side effects of general anesthesia from last year's surgery.
PAPAL trip to Moscow.
Francis said there was contact between Vatican Secretary of State Pietro Parolin and Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov about the situation in Ukraine about the possibility of a trip to Moscow.
The first signs were not good. The Pope has never visited Moscow, and Francis has repeatedly accused Russia of invading Ukraine. Last Thursday he implicitly accused him of waging a "cruel and meaningless war of aggression."
When the Vatican first asked about the trip a few months ago, Francis said Moscow replied that it was not the right time.
But he hinted that something might have changed now.
"I want to go (to Ukraine), but I wanted to go to Moscow first. If the President of Russia gave me a small window for peace ...
" And Now, after I returned from Canada, I managed to get to Ukraine, "he said. "First of all, I would like to go to Russia and try some form of assistance, but I would like to go to both capitals." Asked about the US Supreme Court's decision to overturn Landmark's Law vs. Wade decision, Francis said he respected the decision but did not have enough information to talk about it from a judicial point of view.
However, he denounced abortion in comparison to "hiring Hitman." The Catholic Church teaches that life begins at the moment of conception.
"I ask: is it legal to eliminate human life to solve the problem, is it correct?"
Francis personally in the communion He was asked about the debate in the United States on whether Catholic politicians who oppose but uphold the choices of others should be allowed to receive the communion.
For example, the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Nancy Pelosi, is forbidden to receive it by the conservative archbishop of his home parish in San Francisco, but last week he regularly worshiped in the Parish of Washington, D.C. Has been given. She received the sacrament at the Vatican Parish Mass.
"When the church loses its pastoral nature, when the bishop loses its pastoral nature, it causes political problems," said the Pope. "That's all I can say." (Report by Philip Pullella, edited by Kevin Liffey)