On Sept. 1, 2021, Pope Francis was interviewed for an hour and a half by Carlos Herrera of Spain’s Bishop’s Conference radio COPE. Many subjects were covered including his recent surgery, Afghanistan, China, euthanasia, the legal trials in the Vatican, and reform of the Roman Curia – (Vatican administration). Regarding his major surgery that removed a portion of his colon, Francis said a nurse in the Vatican hospital “saved my life! He told me “you have to have surgery.” There were other opinions such as taking antibiotics, but the nurse with his thirty years of experience “explained it to me very well.” The surgery discovered a deformed section of colon and 33 centimeter had to be removed. Francis said “but thank God it was taken in time, and here I am.” He also said he did not immediately hear about the report in the news “that there was something about me resigning. Whenever a Pope is ill, there is always a breeze or a hurricane of conclave. He said it never crossed my mind to resign.” Regarding Afghanistan now being left to its own devices after twenty years of military occupation, Pope Francis said that the Vatican can pull diplomatic strings to try to prevent reprisals against the population, “and I am going to try to ask for what the Church always asks for in times of great difficulty and crisis: more prayer and fasting. Regarding the 20 years of occupation and then leaving, he said “I was touched by something that Chancellor Merkel, who is one of the great figures of world politics, said ‘It is necessary to put an end to irresponsible policy of intervening from outside and building democracy in other countries, ignoring the traditions of the peoples.’ … I felt a wisdom in hearing this woman say this.” Regarding disappointments in life he said he has several “and that’s good because disappointments are like emergency landings in life. And the point is to get up. There is an alpine song that says a lot to me: ‘In the art of climbing, what matters is not to fall, but not to stay fallen’. And you, faced with a disappointment, have two ways: either you stay there saying that this is not going to work – or get up and bet again. And I believe that in the face of a war, in the face of a defeat, even in the face of one’s own disappointment or one’s own failure or one’s own sin, one must get up and not remain fallen.” Regarding the question does the devil run around the Vatican? Pope Francis said “the devil runs around everywhere, but I’m most afraid of the polite devils. Those who ring your doorbell, who ask your permission, who enter your house, who make friends… I dread the polite devils. They are the worst, and one is very deceived. One is very deceived
