Pope Francis has denied rumours that he planned to resign his position.
The Catholic pontiff was reportedly planning to resign after a surgery on July 6 to remove part of his left colon and after staying in the hospital for a total of 11 days.
The rumour circulated in the Italian and Latin American media.
“Resign? I don’t even think about it,” Pope Francis, 85, said in an interview with Carlos Herrera of the Spanish radio on September 1.
“Whenever a pope is ill, there is always a breeze or a hurricane of conclave.
“I don’t know where they got it from last week that I was going to resign,” he said, adding that the thought of doing so “didn’t even cross my mind.”
The Catholic head said he still on medication though he could eat anything.
“Now I can eat everything, which was not possible before with the diverticula. I still have the post-operative medications, because the brain has to register that it has 33 centimetres (about 13 inches) less intestine,” Pope Francis said.
But, the pope added that “besides that, I have a normal life. I lead a totally normal life.”
Pope Francis said he was grateful to the health workers who gave him treatment, saying “Thank God it was taken in time and here I am.”
He explained it was the Vatican nurse that first indicated his ailment needed surgery.
According to him, “It is the second time in my life that a nurse saved my life,” he recounted. According to him, in 1957, a nurse in Argentina administered antibiotics for him when he had flu.
Pope Francis whose real name is Jorge Mario Bergoglio was born on December 17, 1936.
The Argentine became the head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State in 2013 after the resignation of Pope Benedict.
Pope Benedict, who retains the title of Pope Emeritus, was the first to resign from office since 1415. He resigned on February 28, 2013.
Popes who resigned previously
Four popes had resigned during their reigns.
They are Pope Benedict IX, who resigned in 1045 at the age of 33 so that he could get married; Pope Gregory VI, who resigned in 1046 (he bribed his way into office); Pope Celestine V, who resigned in 1294 after five months in office; and Pope Gregory XII, who resigned in 1415.