Pope Francis, 85, uses a wheelchair at a public event for the first time as he battles chronic knee pain
- Pope has been seen using a wheelchair at a public event for the first time
- His spirits seemed high as he waved and interacted with his adoring audience
- He used a wheelchair in private after an operation on his colon last summer
- Pope Francis has been suffering for months with pain in his right knee
- He’s cancelled numerous engagements and in recent days has struggled to walk
A smiling and waving Pope has been seen using a wheelchair at a public event for the first time as struggles with ongoing knee problems.
The 85-year-old pontiff was wheeled out into the Paul VI general audience hall at the Vatican for a meeting of a Catholic organisation of sisters and nuns on Thursday.
His spirits seemed high as he waved and interacted with his adoring audience on the way to his position to give his address. An aide then helped him out of the wheelchair and onto his seat.
The head of the Catholic Church was known to have used a wheelchair after an operation on his colon last summer, but this was the first time he has been pictured in one at an event open to the media.
Pope Francis has been suffering for months with pain in his right knee, cancelling numerous engagements, and in recent days has struggled to walk.
A smiling and waving Pope has been seen using a wheelchair at a public event for the first time as struggles with ongoing knee problems
His spirits seemed high as he waved and interacted with his adoring audience on the way to his position to give his address
Pope Francis has been suffering for months with pain in his right knee, cancelling numerous engagements, and in recent days has struggled to walk
An aide helped him out of the wheelchair and onto his seat in order to give his address to Catholic organisation of sisters and nuns
Several times over the Easter period last month, Francis attended but did not preside at Masses in St. Peter’s Basilica.
In each case, he delegated an archbishop or cardinal to say the Mass while he sat through the service and also read his homily while seated.
On Wednesday, he had to be helped out of his chair by an assistant at the weekly audience in St Peter’s Square.
The Vatican has not said officially what the problem is, although sources have said he has chronic arthritis. The pope himself has also spoken of an injured ligament in his knee.
He told Italian daily Corriere della Sera in an interview published Tuesday that he would undergo an ‘intervention with infiltration’.
He said doctors have told him they will be giving him an injection to help the movement of his joints. It is not clear if that therapy has begun.
Vatican sources said this involved the injection of anti-inflammatories into the joint, adding that no surgical intervention was currently planned.
He told a newspaper in Argentina in April that he was treating his knee pain by putting ice on it and taking some painkillers.