Pope Francis is "absolutely not"
quitting due to his health, Vatican Secretary of State Cardinal
Pietro Parolin said Monday.
Speculation that the 88-year-old Argentine pontiff might be
considering stepping down like his predecessor Benedict XVI has
oscillated during his over four weeks in a Rome hospital
battling double pneumonia, from which he is now slowly
recovering.
Francis handed in an eventual letter of resignation shortly
after his election in March 2013 in the event of his feeling
unfit to keep doing his job.
"Absolutely not," Parolin blunt replied to journalists on the
sidelines of an event on the occasion of Ramadan, on the
hypothesis that Francis might resign.
Parolin reported that he had his last conversation with the
ailing pontiff last week at the Policlinico Agostino Gemelli
Hospital.
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED © Copyright ANSA
