Health issues may ‘postpone’ Pope Francis’ June trip to Lebanon: Reports

Pope Francis will likely postpone a scheduled June trip to Lebanon because of health issues, according to reports Monday.

The 85-year-old pontiff, who was seen using a wheelchair for the first time in public last week, is dealing with joint issues and is said to have received injections for his knee.

Walid Nassar, Lebanon’s tourism minister, told the Al-Markazia news agency that planning for the visit will continue even if his country receives official word of the postponement. The Associated Press said the Vatican had never confirmed the visit, which the Lebanese president announced last month.

A Lebanon trip would be the first by a pope there since a three-day visit by Pope Benedict XVI in 2012. Lebanon’s Christian community dates back to the very earliest days of the faith, and approximately a third of the country’s population in Christian while two-thirds is Muslim.

Last Monday, Francis told Italian national newspaper Corriere della Sera that he would receive treatment for a torn ligament in his knee, which Vatican spokesman Matteo Bruni later told the Catholic News Agency was “basically an injection.”

“I have been like this for some time, I cannot walk. … It also brings a little pain, humiliation,” the Argentine-born pope told the Italian newspaper. He had greeted a journalist saying, “Excuse me if I cannot get up to greet you, the doctors told me that I have to remain seated for the knee.”

The Vatican has confirmed that Francis will visit Congo and South Sudan in early July. The pontiff has indicated he also hopes to visit Canada later in July.

• This article is based in part on wire service reports.