教皇稱自己已“時日無多”考慮退休
Pope Francis has said he might have only two or three years left to live.
On a plane trip back from South Korea, he told journalists he believed he only had limited time left to complete his reforms of the Roman Catholic Church.
Asked about how he copes with his popularity, he said: ‘I try to think of my sins, my mistakes, so as not to think that I am some- body important.’
He then added with a smile: ‘Because I know this is going to last a short time, two or three years and the house of the Father.’
According to a Vatican source, the 77-year-old has previously told those close to him that he thought he only had a few years left.
He also revealed that he would consider retiring if he felt he could no longer perform his duties.
His predecessor Pope Benedict XVI resigned in February last year.
‘If you asked me if, in the future, I felt I could not go forward, would I do the same? I would do the same. Benedict has opened a door,’ Francis said on board the papal plane.
He also admitted that his advisers have been encouraging him to rest more after he cancelled a series of engagements earlier in the year.
In June he cancelled a visit to the Gemelli Hospital in Rome due to a ‘sudden ailment’.
At the time he told Catholic television station TV2000: ‘We are not masters of our own lives, we cannot arrange things to suit us. We have to accept fragility.’
He also called off trips to a shrine in February and a seminary in May.
‘Those were very demanding days. And now I have to be a bit more sensible,’ he said, adding that he had been sleeping more over the past two months.
The Pope has kept up a whirlwind of activity since his election in March 2013. However he has some underlying health problems, including sciatica. He also had part of a lung removed in his youth.
Some observers claim the pontiff has gained weight and is having difficulty breathing, which could be signs of a heart condition.
He also received the sad news that three members of his family had died in a car crash in Argentina.
His two young great-nephews, aged two and eight months, and their 39-year-old mother Valeria Carmona, were killed in a road accident on Monday.
Vatican spokesman Federico Lombardi said the Pope’s nephew Emanuel Bergoglio, who was driving, was in a serious condition.
He added: ‘The Pope was informed about the tragic accident. He is deeply pained.’
The family’s car reportedly collided with a lorry in the Cordoba region, north-east of Buenos Aires.據英國《每日郵報》報道，羅馬教皇弗朗西斯一世稱自己在世時間最多再活兩到三年，考慮退休。
弗朗西斯一世在從韓國起飛的返程飛機上告訴記者，他認爲自己時日不多，要完成羅馬天主教會改革的時間很有限。
當被問到如何看待人民對他的愛戴時，他說道：“我試着去想我自己的罪過，我犯過的錯誤，而不去想我是一個重要的人。”
然後他微笑着說：“因爲我知道自己時日不多，只剩下兩到三年，然後……我最終會去朝見聖父。”
根據梵蒂岡的消息，77歲的教皇此前曾告訴他的親人自己剩下的日子不多，並透露其可能會考慮退休。
上一任教皇本篤十六世（Pope Benedict XVI）於去年二月份辭職。
弗朗西斯一世登機時：“如果你問我，如果以後覺得自己力不從心、難以勝任教皇一職的時候會不會也這樣做？我的回答是肯定的，因爲本篤已經開了這樣一個先例了。”
他也承認說，今年年初在他取消一系列活動之後，他的顧問們也一直督促他要多休息。
今年六月，由於一場“突發疾病”，弗朗西斯一世取消了前往羅馬格梅利醫院（Gemelli Hospital）的訪問。
他當時告訴天主教電視臺TV2000稱：“我們不能主宰自己的生命，我們無法掌控一切，只能接受我們的脆弱。”
此外，他還取消了二月份前往聖地以及五月份前往神學院的訪問旅程。
他說：“那些日子我感覺非常吃力。不過現在我必須要明智些。過去兩個月裏我睡覺的時間增多了。”
自從2013年的選舉之後，弗朗西斯一一直積極參與各種活動，但是他自身存在一些潛在的健康問題，包括坐骨神經痛。此外，他年輕時還做過肺部的手術。
一些觀察者稱教皇的體重增加、呼吸困難，可能是心臟病的跡象。
此外，他還收到令人悲痛的消息。消息稱他的三位親人在阿根廷發生一場車禍喪生，包括他兩個年幼的侄孫，分別是兩歲和八個月大，還有他們39歲的母親瓦萊裏婭卡莫納（Valeria Carmona）。
梵蒂岡發言人隆巴迪（Federico Lombardi）稱當時開車的是教皇的侄子伊曼紐爾•貝戈格里奧（Emanuel Bergoglio），目前他身受重傷，情況危急。
他還說：“教皇已獲悉這則噩耗，悲痛欲絕。”
報道稱他們是在布伊諾斯艾利斯（Buenos Aires）東北部的科爾多瓦（Cordoba）地區和一輛卡車相撞發生意外。
