Doctors have prescribed a wheelchair, a cane and physical therapy to ease Pope Francis’ knee ailments. But he has other ideas.
According to a video of the pope at the end of a recent audience that went viral, Francis joked that what he really needs for pain is a shot of tequila.
The Argentine-born pope was riding in the popemobile in St. Peter’s Square when he stopped near a group of Mexican seminarians from the Legionaries of Christ who asked him in Spanish how his knee was doing. After he responded that he was “capricious,” they told Francisco that they admired his ability to smile despite pain and that he was an example to future priests like them.
“Do you know what I need for my leg?”Francis asked them from the popemobile. “A tequila”. The seminarians laughed and promised to deliver a bottle to the Santa Marta hotel where Francisco lives.
The 85-year-old pope has suffered from strained ligaments in his right knee for months and, on doctors’ orders, is using a wheelchair and a cane to get around and be able to heal.
Unsurprisingly, limits on his mobility have sparked media speculation about his health and a future conclave, but a close aide recently said the pope is “better than ever” and receiving two hours of physical therapy a day.
“He is in very good health and with the lucid reflection of always,” the bishop of La Plata, Argentina, Víctor Manuel Fernández, tweeted on May 14 after seeing the pope. “A problem in one of his knees, but I see that every day he undergoes more than two hours of rehabilitation, which is giving results. Other than that, it’s better than ever.”
Francis recently postponed a planned two-day trip to Lebanon next month, citing a knee problem, but the Vatican has confirmed he will travel to Congo and South Sudan, and to Canada in July.