Pope Francis enters the Vatican’s Paul VI Hall in a wheelchair on May 5, 2022. / Daniel Ibáñez/CNA.
Vatican City, May 21, 2022 / 06:00 am (CNA).
Pope Francis has been speaking about his health in recent weeks, especially a problem with his knee that is forcing him to walk and stand less.
The 85-year-old Francis, who has spent most of his nine years as pope in relatively good health, has dealt with several painful medical conditions over the last few years.
His difficulties have included a stay of more than a week in a hospital after colon surgery in 2021.
Here is a CNA timeline charting Pope Francis’ recent health concerns:
December 2020
A bout of sciatic pain in the final days of 2020 kept Pope Francis from presiding at the Vatican’s liturgies on New Year’s Eve and New Year’s Day.
Francis has suffered from sciatica for a number of years; He spoke about it during an in-flight press conference returning from a trip to Brazil in July 2013.
“Sciatica is very painful, very painful! I don’t wish it on anyone,” he said about the condition, which starts in the lower back and can cause pain running down the back of the thigh and leg to the foot.
