Pope Francis health: When will the Pope retire?

In July, he received significant surgery on his lower intestine that removed a portion of his colon.

Surgeons in Rome removed diverticula, small pouches that sometimes develop in the digestive tract.

The Pope confidently declared to Cadena COPE in September that he was not considering retirement, and can now live a “totally normal life”.

He said the surgery allowed him to “eat everything”, which was not previously possible with the diverticula.