Pope Francis apologized to his faithful flock after his sciatica forced him to remain seated while addressing a tribunal of the Vatican Catholic Church.
The 84-year-old Argentine had to cancel a series of recent events due to a nervous breakdown.
“I would like to speak to you standing up, but sciatica is an annoying guest,” he told members of the Rota Romana on Friday, according to Agence France-Presse.
“So I apologize and I will sit down,” he told members of the tribunal as he marked the start of the Holy See’s judicial year.
Francis skipped New Year’s Mass at St. Peter’s Basilica and two Masses earlier in the week due to an attack with a chronic condition that causes pain in his hip.
He postponed his New Year’s greetings to ambassadors on Monday, but managed to lead a Sunday prayer at noon, as scheduled.
In 2013, he told reporters that he had suffered a sciatica crisis after being elected head of the Catholic Church earlier that year.
“The worst thing that happened, excuse me, was a sciatica attack, indeed, that I had the first month, because I was sitting in an armchair to do interviews and it hurt,” he told that time, according to the French news agency.
“Sciatica is very painful, very painful. I don’t want anyone. ”
The pope walks with a slight limp due to the condition, but otherwise he is in good health.
His current medical explosion has raised questions about his planned trip to Iraq in March.
He and his predecessor, Pope Benedict, received the coronavirus vaccine earlier this year.
With Post threads