Pope Francis joked with a group of Mexican seminarians who asked him about his knee pain. “Do you know what I need for the leg? Some tequila,” he said, drawing laughter from the clergy.
The 85-year-old pontiff, who suffers from osteoarthritis that has affected a ligament in his right knee, has had to cancel appointments several times in the past month due to pain at the site.
Video of the scene, which has gone viral, was recorded during the Wednesday general hearing and lasts for a few minutes.​
“Pope Francis, how is your knee?” asks one of the seminarians.
“Very capricious”, replies the pontiff, speaking of the pain that led him to use a wheelchair at a public event in early May and to postpone a trip to Lebanon.
Then the seminarian says: “But thank you for your smile, for your joy in being here despite the inconvenience. You also set a great example for future priests.” From the mobile pope, Francis, 85, replied with a mischievous look: “You know what I need for my leg? A little tequila.”
“If we ever go to Santa Marta, we’ll bring a little bottle,” they said, referring to Francis’ private residence in the Vatican.
It is not the first time that the Argentine has joked with people who greet him during the general audience.
In January, he explained his health problems to the faithful, also during a general audience. “It’s a temporary thing. They say it only happens to older people, and I don’t know why it happened to me…” he concluded.
