"We exchanged messages about this because I thought that if the Russian president gave me a small window to serve the cause of peace … And now it is possible, after I come back from Canada, it is possible that I manage to go to Ukraine," he said.With the Vatican under lockdown, the congregation consisted of only a small number of clergy and lay people, who stood spaced apart as a precaution against spreading COVID-19. "I would like to go, and I wanted to go to Moscow first," he said. When the Vatican first asked about a trip several months ago, Francis said Moscow replied that it was not the right time.īut he hinted that something may now have changed.
Dozens killed or hurt in shelling of Zaporizhzhia, Ukraine's military reports. 'Prospect of Armageddon': Biden issues warning over Putin nuclear threats. If Vladimir Putin goes, who's next? The Russian leader's successor could be lurking inside the Kremlin. Read more on Russia's invasion of Ukraine: No pope has ever visited Moscow, and Francis has repeatedly condemned Russia's invasion of Ukraine last Thursday he implicitly accused it of waging a "cruel and senseless war of aggression". Speaking of the situation in Ukraine, Francis noted that there have been contacts between Vatican Secretary of State Cardinal Pietro Parolin and Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov about a possible trip to Moscow. ( Vatican Media/Handout via Reuters) First papal visit to Moscow? Pope Francis coughs while leading the weekly Angelus prayer in St Peter's Square in early 2020. " was a great success," he said, adding with a laugh that "they didn't tell me anything" about the supposed cancer, which he dismissed as "court gossip".īut he said he did not want an operation on his knee because the general anaesthetic in last year's surgery had had negative side-effects. "I am well, I am slowly getting better," he said, adding that the fracture was knitting, helped by laser and magnet therapy.įrancis also dismissed rumours that cancer had been found a year ago when he underwent a six-hour operation to remove part of his colon because of diverticulitis, a condition common in the elderly. He gave details of his ailment for the first time in public, saying he had suffered "a small fracture" in the knee when he took a misstep while a ligament was inflamed. The room has a copy of one of Francis' favourite paintings: "Mary, Untier of Knots", created around 1700 by the German Joachim Schmidtner.Īsked how he was, the Pope joked: "I'm still alive!" 
( Reuters: Remo Casilli)įrancis used a cane as he walked into a reception room on the ground floor of the Santa Marta guest house where he has lived since his election in 2013, eschewing the papal apartment in the Apostolic Palace used by his predecessors.
Pope Francis revealed that he had fractured his knee when he took a misstep while a ligament was inflamed.
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