The Pope Postpones His Trip to Africa

The press release specifies that “the Holy Father has been forced to postpone the apostolic journey” to the Democratic Republic of Congo and South Sudan scheduled for early July.

“Accepting the request of the doctors,” it added, “and in order not to negate the results of the still -in-progress knee therapy, the Holy Father finds himself forced, with regret, to postpone the apostolic trip to the Democratic Republic of Congo and South Sudan scheduled for July 2-7, to a new date to be determined later.”

At the end of the afternoon, a clarification was made by the Press Office to the journalists' questions: “Postponing back is not canceling,” explained Matteo Bruni. “Physiotherapy is producing results, but the doctors advised the Pope not to compromise them. Excessive effort could indeed set the situation back and lose the improvements already obtained.”

And this loss would be inevitable according to the director of the Press Room of the Holy See: “He could no longer return to the state of improvement that he has recently reached.”

The pilgrimage to Africa included two stages, the first to the Democratic Republic of Congo, and the capital Kinshasa and the city of Goma, the second, to South Sudan - the capital Juba.

A Vatican source tells I.MEDIA that the trip will probably not be able to take place before March 2023 due to the pontiff's agenda and the unsuitable weather conditions between November and March.

As for the official trip of Pope Francis to Canada, the director of the Press Room of the Holy See did not comment.

These complications fuel a number of speculations on the state of Francis’s health, even on his intentions, and the most unverifiable rumors circulate blithely on this subject.