Pope Figures He'll Live '2 or 3' More Years

Doesn't rule out retirement
By John Johnson,  Newser Staff
Posted Aug 19, 2014 7:03 PM CDT
Pope Figures He'll Live '2 or 3' More Years
Pope Francis meets the media during an airborne press conference.   (AP Photo/Gregorio Borgia)

Pope Francis thinks he's got only a few years left to live, and that seems OK with him. "Two or three years, and then I'll be off to the Father's house," he told reporters aboard a flight to the Vatican. He was speaking in lighthearted fashion, though AFP reports that he has told those close to him the same thing. The 77-year-old Francis didn't explain why, though he acknowledged "some nerve problems." He also did not rule out the possibility of retiring, as his predecessor did, even if it displeases theologians, notes the Independent. "Benedict XVI opened a door," he said. (Earlier, a car crash killed three of the pope's relatives.)

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