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Pope Francis Dismisses Rumors That He's Planning to Resign

Pope francis
Pope francis

Massimo Valicchia/NurPhoto via Getty Pope Francis

Pope Francis is speaking out against rumors that he will soon resign from his position as the 266th pontiff of the Roman Catholic Church.

In an interview with Reuters on Saturday, the 85-year-old said that upcoming big events on his calendar, including a visit to the city of L'Aquila — which some believed signaled a resignation in the near future — are not the sign of something more significant.

"All of these coincidences made some think that the same 'liturgy' would happen," Francis said. "But it never entered my mind. For the moment no, for the moment, no. Really!"

The Pope has a series of important events at the end of August, Reuters reported, including "meetings with the world's cardinals to discuss a new Vatican constitution" and "a ceremony to induct new cardinals" as well as his visit to L'Aquila.

According to the Catholic News Agency, Pope Francis' predecessor, Pope Benedict XVI, visited the burial site of Pope Celestine V (who resigned in 1294) in L'Aquila in 2009 before he resigned in 2013.

Francis did say, though, that he might resign one day if health issues prohibited him from running the church. If this does occur, it would be only the second time a modern-era Pope left the position rather than serving for life, as is tradition, after Benedict XVI resigned at age 85.

Saturday's interview came on the day the Pope was supposed to leave for a trip to Democratic Republic of Congo and South Sudan though had to cancel due to doctor's orders, Reuters reported, following a knee injury.

Pope Francis
Pope Francis

Christopher Furlong/Getty Pope Francis

According to the outlet, doctors said he might also have to skip a planned trip to Canada later this month, too, "unless he agreed to have 20 more days of therapy and rest for his right knee."

The Pope shared that he had experienced a "small fracture" in his knee and said he was "slowly getting better."

Rumors about Francis' retirement began swirling in May, when he was photographed using a wheelchair in public for the first time. The suspicions only increased in June, when he announced the visit to L'Aquila for the Celestinian Forgiveness.

The visit was announced following another move that raised questions: Francis' decision to call a consistory for Aug. 27 to create 21 new cardinals — 16 of whom would be eligible to vote on who will decide on his replacement, according to The Washington Post.

A year ago to the day, Pope Francis was under observation following a colon surgery.

The Pope told Reuters in his recent interview that despite rumors that said otherwise, cancer had not been found during that surgery and that the operation "was a great success."