Pope Francis will resign “if he believes it is best for the good of the Church,” said French Cardinal Jean-Marc Aveline. He was speaking on the sidelines of a press conference held on February 20, 2025, at the Vatican.
At his side, Spanish Cardinal Juan José Omella Omella refused to “make prophecies,” while assuring that the cardinals were “open” to what could happen. Pope Francis has been hospitalized for a week with a respiratory infection and this situation is reviving the debate about a possible renunciation.
“I’m not panicking,” said Cardinal Aveline, Archbishop of Marseille. Media attention has been focused since February 14 on Gemelli Hospital in Rome, where the pontiff is being treated for polymicrobial infection and pneumonia affecting both lungs.
The French cardinal, who had come to present the project for a ship that will sail the Mediterranean this year, said that he was feeling “a sense of family concern” these days.
“It’s like when my father was in hospital just before Christmas. There’s concern, it’s normal, it’s like someone in the family,” he added, wishing him “improvement in his health.”
Cardinal Aveline told journalists — including I.MEDIA — that he had not spoken to the Pope since his hospitalization. But he emphasized the 88-year-old pontiff’s resistance to fatigue, recalling that the Pope once said to him,
“All the people around me are more tired than I am.” And the cardinal joked: “He’s one of those people [who], if you really want them to rest, you have to hospitalize them.”
The Pope is “lucid and free”
The Italian newspaper Corriere della Sera asked Cardinal Gianfranco Ravasi whether the Pope might decide to resign. “I think he might,” he replied. “If he ends up having grave difficulties in carrying out his service, he’ll make his choice. He’ll be the one to decide, obviously.” The Italian cardinal believes Pope Francis will do everything possible to remain until the end of the Jubilee Year 2025, “which he feels is his great moment.”
These comments touch on a theme that has been gaining momentum in recent days. In this regard, the archbishop of Marseille acknowledged that “anything is possible” while knowing “nothing” about what will happen. He refused to “anticipate” or “speculate on the Pope’s health.”
The 266th pope is “a fighter,” Cardinal Aveline emphasized once again, but not “in the bellicose sense of the term.” He “is lucid and free” enough to make the decision to resign, he continued, before stating, “If he feels it’s the best thing for the good of the Church, he will do so.”
Cardinal Aveline also admitted that, while the Church is “not on pause” and “the life of the Church continues,” the prospect of an upcoming conclave is a question that the cardinals are asking themselves. “Sooner or later, it will have to happen,” he acknowledged.
“The Pope knows what he must do.”
At his side, Cardinal Juan José Omella Omella, Archbishop of Barcelona, also said that “the Pope knows what he must do” and that he will make his decision “in good conscience.”
“Benedict XVI took the path of resignation. I respect his decision. John Paul II wanted to continue until the end, and I respect his decision,” he insisted.
The Spanish prelate, a member of the inner circle of cardinals advising Pope Francis — the “C9” — therefore refused to “make prophecies about what’s going to happen.” He rejected the idea that the cardinals were actively preparing for the next conclave.
“We’re open, we’re all in God’s hands,” he said. He also stressed that “with one pope or another, the Church continues to make its way.”
“The longer (Pope Francis) lives, the better,” he also said, hailing the “path of renewal” that the 266th pope has undertaken in the Church, which he said must be ”brought to fruition.”
“I pray for the Pope and I await news, but with peace, with confidence,” he said. And “if a conclave is convened, we’ll do it. It doesn’t keep me awake at night, nor does it [prevent me] from working normally. If it happens, we’ll see,” he concluded.
And today we celebrate...