Pope Francis sees himself dying in Rome

Pope Francis sees himself dying in Rome, and the Pope is still sovereign, without returning to live in his native Argentina, according to an interview published in a book entitled “The Health of the Popes” whose good papers were published on Saturday in the Argentinian newspaper “La Nacion”.

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In this interview with Argentine journalist and physician Nelson Castro in the Vatican in February 2019, the Pope said he is thinking about death, but he is not afraid of it.

When asked how he sees his end, Francis, 84, replied, “I will be pope, in office or honorary. And in Rome. I will not return to Argentina.”

According to the author of the work entitled “Health of the Popes. Doctor, Conspiracy and Faith. From Leo XIII to François,” which will be published Monday in Argentina, “This is the first time that the Pope has spoken of his health with the transparency that Francis did.”

The former Archbishop of Buenos Aires, named Jorge Bergoglio, also emphasized that he does not miss Argentina: “No, I don’t miss it. I lived there for 76 years. What hurts me are its problems,” referring to the economic crisis shaking the South American country.

Originally from a country with the largest number of psychologists and psychoanalysts per capita, the Sovereign Pope also recounts that he consulted a psychiatrist during the dictatorship (1976-1983).

He was from a Jesuit province in Argentina and had to help “the people in hiding to get them out of the country in order to save their lives”.

“For six months, I went to consult her once a week,” reveals the Pope. “You helped me locate me in terms of how I dealt with my concerns at the time. Imagine what it was like to transport a hiding person in a car – barely concealed under a blanket – and passing three military checkpoints in the Campo de Mayo area,” the largest barracks in the country .

“The tension this created in me was immense,” declares the Supreme Pontiff.

The Argentine Pope has been vaccinated against COVID-19. In addition to his age, the leader of 1.3 billion Catholics is considered a person in danger: at the age of 21, in 1957, he suffered from acute pleuritis and surgeons had to perform a partial removal of his right lung.