Pope Francis’ health after 10 years in the job: Slower steps, same determination

Pope Francis’ health after 10 years in the job: Slower steps, same determination

Vatican City: Ten years ago when he became the first pope from Latin America, the former Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio had a spritely step and a slimmer girth. Today Pope Francis, 86, is using a cane and a wheelchair because of a persistent knee ailment and his waistline has noticeably increased due to a more sedentary lifestyle in the Vatican that began even before his leg problem. But the leader of the world’s nearly 1.4 billion Roman Catholics - marking the 10th anniversary of his pontificate on March 13 - appears to be in good and steady overall health for a man of his age. “You don’t run the Church with a knee but with a head,” he reportedly told an aide after he began sometimes using a wheelchair in public for the first time on May 5, 2022. Last July, returning from a trip to Canada, Francis acknowledged that his advancing age and his difficulty walking might have ushered in a new, slower phase of his papacy. But effectively he has not slowed down. After Canada, he went to Kazakhstan in September, Bahrain in November and made a gruelling trip last month to Democratic Republic of Congo and South