Pope Francis health issues: why does the Pope use a wheelchair – what has he said about resigning?

Since his papacy began in 2013, Pope Francis has discussed a number of his health issues openly, from a lung condition he contracted as a young man to a knee condition that has originated more recently.

Across 2022, Pope Francis suggested more than once that – if his health worsened – he may consider the example set by his predecessor Pope Benedict XVI and retire from the Papacy.

Here’s everything you need to know about Pope Francis’ health, and an explanation as to what he’s said about a potential resignation.

Why is Pope Francis in a wheelchair?

Over the past year, Pope Francis has begin to use a wheelchair during public appearances to help with mobility issues; he first used the wheelchair in May 2022, and has alternated between using the wheelchair and walking with a cane since then.

Pope Francis’ mobility issues are a result of a condition called sciatica, which he has lived with for a number of years. Sciatica is a chronic pain condition causes by an irritation of the sciatic nerve, which runs from the lower back to the legs, and makes walking difficult. According to the Vatican, Pope Francis performs physical therapy exercises for several hours a day to alleviate his sciatic pain.

Does Pope Francis have any other health issues?

Pope Francis has had a number of operations in recent years: in 2019, Pope Francis had surgery to remove cataracts in his eyes, while in 2021 he underwent surgery again to remove the left side of his colon. This hemicolectomy was in response to a condition called diverticulitis, which causes stomach pain, and saw the Pope recover in hospital for a week afterwards.

During his early 20s, while studying chemistry, Pope Francis contracted pneumonia. As a result, part of his lung was removed, though he’s never had any major issues with his lungs since then.

Will Pope Francis ever retire?

When Pope Benedict XVI resigned in 2013 due to ill health, it was an essentially unprecedented move, making him the first Pontiff to retire in around 600 years. During a trip to Canada in July 2022, discussing his own health issues, Pope Francis suggested that retirement may be something he would consider also.

"It is not a catastrophe to change Pope, it is not a taboo," said Pope Francis, speaking to journalists during the return flight from Canada to Rome. “The door [to retirement] is open - it is a normal option. But until today I have not knocked on that door. I have not felt the need to think about this possibility - that is not to say that in two days’ time I might not start thinking about it.”

“This trip has been intense,” he continued, according to reports from BBC News. "I don’t think I can keep travelling with the same rhythm I used to at my age and with the limitation of this knee. I either need to save myself a little in order to continue serving the Church, or I need to consider the possibility of stepping aside.”

The trip to Canada in question came shortly after health issues prompted the Pope to cancel a planned journey to the Democratic Republic of Congo and South Sudan early in July 2022.

More recently, Pope Francis revealed to a Spanish news agency that he had written a formal letter of resignation on taking office in 2013, with the intention that it be put into effect if his health ever deteriorated significant.

“I signed it and said: ‘If I should become impaired for medical reasons or whatever, here is my resignation. Here you have it,” said Pope Francis, though he went on to downplay his health issues, noting that “one governs with the head, not the knee”.