“I think at my age and with these limitations, I have to save [my energy] to be able to serve the church, or on the contrary, think about the possibility of stepping aside,” he said. Despite a long day traveling to the edge of the Arctic on Friday to again apologise to Indigenous peoples for the injustices they suffered in residential schools, the Pope appeared in good spirits and energetic at the end of his trip. Francis ruled out having surgery on his knee, saying it would not necessarily help and noting “there are still traces” from the effects of having undergone more than six hours of anaesthesia in July 2021 to remove 13 inches of his large intestine. “I’ll try to continue to do the trips and be close to people because I think it’s a way of servicing, being close. But more than this, I can’t say,” he said.
