Pope Jokes 'a Little Tequila' Would Ease Knee Pain

️Pope Francis jokes with a group of Mexican priests that a shot of tequila would help him with a painful knee that has forced the 85-year-old Argentine to use a wheelchair, Vatican City, May 16, 2022.

Doctors have prescribed a wheelchair, cane and physical therapy to help heal Pope Francis' bad knee. He has other ideas.

Francis was riding in the popemobile in St. Peter’s Square when he stopped near a group of Mexican seminarians from the Legion of Christ who asked him in his native Spanish how his knee was doing. After he replied that it was “capricious,” they told Francis that they admired his ability to smile despite the pain, and that he was an example for future priests like themselves.

“Do you know what I need for my knee?" Francis asked them from the popemobile. "Some tequila.” The seminarians laughed and promised to deliver a bottle to the Santa Marta hotel where Francis lives.

The 85-year-old Argentine pope has been suffering from strained ligaments in his right knee for months, and on doctors' orders, recently has been using a wheelchair and a cane to get around so he can let it heal.

The limits on his mobility have spurred a predictable round of media speculation about his health and a future conclave, but a close collaborator recently said the pope was “better than ever” and was undergoing two hours of physiotherapy a day.

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