Pope Francis appeared before journalists, after which he went on Sunday to a foreign trip, during which he would take part in the closure of the International Eucharistic Congress in the capital of Hungary and will be in Slovakia.
Despite the continuing pandemic and short flight (just over 1.5 hours), Francis did not refuse tradition to welcome journalists, turning to everyone individually. “I feel good,” – assured the pontiff, answering the question of the TASS correspondent, about his state of health in connection with the operation transferred in July.
Francis communicated with journalists without a mask, unlike last trip – in Iraq in March, the first after the start of the pandemic, and again shook his hands. In total, about 70 representatives of international media are accompanied in this trip. He smiled, looked cheerful and rested despite the early departure, at 06:00 local time. Francis even joked, sprawling about the bald poisstrin of the Agency of the Reuters Phil Copella.
In early July, Francis, who will celebrate the 85th anniversary in December, the intestine surgery was made. At first, after hospitalization, he adhered to a more gentle working mode. This again stirred speculation that he could follow the example of his predecessor Benedict XVI and renounce the throne. Francis himself in a recent interview with the Spanish Catholic Radio, such assumptions indirectly denied, noting that “when it comes to the health of Pope of Roman, the breeze or a hurricane of the Conclava always rises” (closed Cardinal elections of the new head of the Roman Catholic Church after the death of the previous one). Benedict XVI was the first pontiff for almost six centuries, which hesitated from the papal throne, as he argued, due to the lack of physical forces, to “lead the boat of St. Peter” (church).