Pope Rejects Resignation Rumors

Pope Francis has dismissed rumors he plans to resign anytime soon, and says that he hopes to visit Moscow and Kyiv after traveling to Canada later this month. Francis also told Reuters in an interview published Monday that the idea "never entered my mind" to announce a planned retirement at the end of the summer, though he repeated he might step down some day, as Emeritus Pope Benedict XVI did in 2013. Asked about rumors he had cancer, he laughed and said doctors hadn't told him anything about it.

The 85-year-old revealed that his knee trouble, which has caused him to use a wheelchair for over a month, was caused by a "small fracture" that occurred when he stepped awkwardly while the knee ligament was inflamed, the AP reports. He said it is "slowly getting better" with laser and magnet therapy. Francis was due to have visited Congo and South Sudan this week but had to cancel the trip because doctors said he needed more therapy. Asked about the ruling that overturned Roe v. Wade, he said he didn't have enough information to discuss it from a legal point of view but reiterated the church's strong opposition to abortion. (The pope recently met Elon Musk and four of his sons.)