And, yes, the 78-year-old pope gets tired, Manila Archbishop Luis Antonio Cardinal Tagle said on Saturday evening.
“At the end of every event, I would tag him, ‘How are you? Do you feel tired?’ And he is very frank and very honest and says, ‘Yes, a little,’” he said.
The cardinal also shared that he told Pope Francis that it is okay for him to sit down on his popemobile–as recommended by a doctor after spending hours standing–but whenever he sees a crowd of people, he would stand up right away.
“I told him that and he sat but when he saw a crowd, he stood up again,” Tagle said.
Pope Francis is energized by the people for a reason.
“He said, ‘They have been sacrificing, waiting for me, so deprive them of this opportunity?’,” the cardinal said.
Vatican Press Office director Father Federico Lombardi added that Pope Francis also expresses fatigue after a long day in The Vatican.
“We are always surpriseD that a man of his age can do what he is doing in Rome and also abroad,” he said.
Lombardi also told the press that after the pope’s activities were in Tacloban were cut short, he decided to rest upon arriving at the Apostolic Nunciature.
“He has decided not to take new initiative in the afternoon,” he said.
This is also in preparation for tomorrow’s activities including meeting the youth at the University of Sto. Tomas and the pope’s concluding Mass at the Quirino Grandstand. —NB, GMA News
