Pope Francis joked this Tuesday that he “needs a shot of tequila” to help him with his knee pain.
Francisco, from 80 years old, has had mobility problems and has been forced to use a wheelchair after straining ligaments in his right knee for several months.
A viral online clip shows Pope Francis traveling in his famous popemobile in Peter’s Square when he stops near a group of Mexican seminarians from the Legion of Christ who ask him in their native Spanish how his knee is.
Here is the video of Pope Francis:
After he replied that it was “capricious”, they told him Francis who admired his ability to smile despite pain and who was an example for future priests like them.
“ Do you know what I need for my knee? Francisco asked them from the popemobile. “A little tequila”.
The seminarians laughed and promised to deliver a bottle to him at the Santa Marta hotel where Francisco lives.
The limits on his mobility have prompted a predictable round of 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 same lucid reflection as always”, tweeted the bishop of La Plata, Argentina, Víctor Manuel Fernández, the 13 in May after seeing the Pope.
“(He has) a problem in one of his knees, but every day he has more than two hours of rehabilitation, which is giving results. For everything else, he is better than ever.”
Francis recently pulled out of a planned two-day trip to Lebanon next month, citing a knee problem, but the Vatican has confirmed that he will travel to Congo and South Sudan, as well as Canada, in July .
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