Pope Francis apologised for staying sitting during an audience on Friday as he blamed the 'troublesome' sciatica that has caused him to cancel a number of events. 'I would like to speak to you standing up but sciatica is a troublesome guest,' the 84-year-old told members of the Roman Rota, a top Catholic Church tribunal. On the way back from a trip to Brazil in 2013, the pope told reporters about suffering a bout of sciatica in the weeks after being elected head of the Catholic Church earlier that year. The pope walks with a slight limp as a result of the sciatica but has had a generally healthy life, despite having had part of his lung removed when he was a young man after developing pleurisy. He received the coronavirus vaccine earlier this month alongside his predecessor, former pope Benedict XVI, who lives in a converted monastery in the Vatican gardens.

Source: Daily Mail January 29, 2021 16:56 UTC