Pope Francis has undergone several operations and hospitalizations in recent years. He appears weakened at each appearance and his state of health worries even if the Holy See guarantees the good condition of the sovereign pontiff.
Pope Francis continues to travel and represent the Christian community as head of the Catholic Church, but with each trip his fragile health raises questions. Aged 87, the sovereign pontiff has experienced several health problems in recent months. To the point that some are asking the question of a possible upcoming resignation of His Holiness. If at the beginning of his pontificate Pope Francis had left the door open to a renunciation of his role as leader, his position is more ambiguous today.
Chain hospitalizations
Pope Francis’ last hospitalization dates back to June 7, 2023. He was then admitted to hospital urgently for a risk of intestinal obstruction. The intervention had become “necessary”, because the sovereign pontiff was indeed suffering from “an abdominal hernia which caused[ait] recurrent, painful and worsening subocclusive syndromes”, the Holy See announced in a press release. The heavy surgical intervention, carried out under general anesthesia, led to hospitalization for “several days”. The convalescence of the Pope however went well.
This hospitalization in June was the third in the space of a few months. The pontiff’s comings and goings to Rome’s Gemelli Hospital began at the end of March 2023 with an emergency admission for pneumonia that the Vatican had tried to cover up. Another hospitalization of the pope occurred on May 26 due to a fever. And the day after control examinations which had lasted an hour and had probably ruled out any suspicion of further hospitalization.
Pope Francis presents in fragile health
At 87 years old and after various medical problems, Pope Francis remains in fragile health. His condition risks being closely monitored, because the continuation of the pontificate and a potential renunciation depend on it. If in statements dating from February and March 2023, the man had assured that a resignation was not on the agenda, he could resign himself to it due to his state of health, like Benedict XVI before him.
The decline in the pope’s health goes back further than the health problems he experienced in 2023 – intestinal obstruction and respiratory problems, among others. As early as 2021, a colon operation required Pope Francis to be hospitalized. He suffered from a potentially painful inflammation of diverticula, hernias or pockets which form on the walls of the digestive tract and which increase in frequency with age. The Vatican had announced that the operation had taken place normally. However, rumors have been actively circulating since this operation, with some being convinced that cancer was discovered during this colon operation. On July 2, during an interview with Reuters, Pope Francis, however, brushed aside this “court gossip”. The only complications due to this intervention would have been the after-effects of the anesthesia which would prevent recourse to a knee operation to put an end to the pain of the sovereign of the Church.
Physically, Pope Francis has appeared diminished since May 2022, when the octogenarian always appears in public in a wheelchair or equipped with a cane due to chronic knee pain. Generating travel difficulties, these pains led to the development and relief of the sovereign.
Can Pope Francis be replaced in the event of health problems?
If in the event of the death of the pope a well-established organization is put in place, nothing of the sort exists in the case of hospitalization or rapid deterioration in the state of health of the sovereign pontiff. Asked by I.Mediaa press agency specializing in the Vatican, a canon law expert asserts that “the pope remains the pope even in the hospital.”
Despite the recent hospitalization of Pope Francis, for the Holy See the time is not to search for a successor. “There are uncertainties, not in terms of death, but in terms of renunciation. There is also a legitimate question within the Church: is Pope Francis fit to govern? How will the end of the pontificate if the pope is weakened?” analyzes researcher François Mabille.
Since his appointment as pope, Jorge Mario Bergoglio has indicated on several occasions that he is ready to think about and resort to renunciation. He only conditioned his resignation on health which would no longer allow him to govern the Church. However, the speech is no longer as clear today since in each interview with the press – in February 2023 and in March 2023 on the occasion of the ten years of his pontificate – Pope Francis ruled out a possible resignation and brushed aside rumors going in this direction out of hand. But these statements must be read in context according to the director of the religious geopolitics observatory at IRIS, François Mabille: “After the funeral of his predecessor, Pope Francis was attacked by the opposition. If he evokes the possibility of resignation, he favors the rise in power of people against him or the emergence of diverse currents opposed to his positions. If he rejects renunciation, he remains the master of time as long as he lives and silenced opposition for the duration of his pontificate.”
There is therefore a political and religious interest for Pope Francis in not being fully in favor of resignation if he wants to “carry out his reforms or consolidate the legacy of his pontificate”. The fact remains that the sovereign pontiff could be overtaken by his health and that both physical and mental problems could justify a renunciation according to the expert. “It is more worrying if the pope is no longer intellectually able to govern, which for the moment is not at all the case. Physically, if certain difficulties are not contrary to the exercise of power – the pope is not obliged to travel all over the world and can govern while being in his office – wear and tear can prevent the continuation of the pontificate. The older you get, the less strength you have to work.” The various health problems encountered by the Pope in recent years have already led to adjustments to the agenda and this respiratory infection could call for further reductions. When the hour of choice presents itself, it will be up to the pope alone to make the decision whether or not to renounce his function.