Knee problem forces pope to cancel July Africa trip

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Knee problem forces pope to cancel July Africa trip

4:07 CAT | 10 Jun 2022

FILE - Pope Francis waves after the weekly general audience at the Vatican, June 8, 2022. [File photo: Reuters/Guglielmo Mangiapane]

Pope Francis’ July 2-7 trip to Democratic Republic of Congo and South Sudan has been cancelled because of the 85-year-old pontiff’s knee ailment, the Vatican said on Friday.

A Vatican statement said it was postponed to “a later date to be determined”.

The decision was taken “with regret” at request of the pope’s doctors, who have been treating him for a torn ligament in his knee. The condition has forced him to use a wheelchair for the last month or so, although he has kept up his activity.

Vatican spokesman Matteo Bruni said the pope would skip the trip “in order not to jeopardize the results of the therapy that he is undergoing for his knee”.

Vatican sources have said the pope has been receiving several injections a week for the ailment, as well as physical therapy. But he still needs help getting in and out of the wheelchair.

They said the therapy was going well enough to have given the pope hope that he would have been able to regain at least partial ability to walk before the trip was due to start.

The surprise announcement came just two days after the Vatican released the names of journalists whose requests to accompany the pope on the papal plane had been accepted and preparations in both countries were well under way.

The Vatican did not say if the pope’s scheduled July 24-30 trip to Canada would be affected by his knee ailment.

The trip to Democratic Republic of Congo and South Sudan in the summer heat would have been difficult for the 85-year-old pontiff under normal circumstances but mobility problems would have made it excessively stressful.

It would have entailed five plane journeys and three Masses that would have required him to remain standing for long periods. He was also due to make more than a dozen addresses, meet political officials and Church groups and visit camps for displaced people in both countries.

When he went to Malta in April, the pope had to use a freight lift to board and leave the planes because of the knee problem.

Despite his knee ailment, the pope has been keeping up a regular schedule of audiences and other activities. He had four audiences on Friday, including one with European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen.

Source: Reuters