Pope Francis jokes about upcoming Canada trip: ‘They say it’s not easy, I think it is’

Pope Francis prays the Angelus from the window of the Apostolic Palace, July 3, 2022. / Vatican Media/CNA

Rome, Italy, Jul 11, 2022 / 15:31 pm (CNA).

After visiting a community of Jesuits in Rome this weekend, Pope Francis joked about his upcoming trip to Canada, from July 24-30.

In a video posted by Congolese Jesuit Jean-Pierre Bodjoko on July 10, the Holy Father is seen saying goodbye to a group of Jesuits, accompanied by the Superior General of the Society of Jesus, Father Arturo Sosa.

In the video, the pope can be seen walking with some difficulty and leaning on a cane, but does not lose his sense of humor. It can then be seen that he shakes hands with one of those present and says, with some surprise, “I didn’t know him, he cut his beard.”

Sosa continued the joke and said “he took a bath, he took a bath!” The other Jesuit, to whom the jokes were made, says, “I have cut my beard, tomorrow I am going to see the pope.”

Before getting into the car that was waiting for him, one of the Jesuits said to Pope Francis that they are praying for his trip to Canada.The Holy Father replied, “it is a trip that they say is not easy, I think it is,” generating again the laughter of those present.

Father Sosa, holding the door of the car, then jokingly asked the pope, “You are not going to fly the plane, are you?” Another Jesuit commented, “but it is not more difficult than the omnipotence of God,” to which Pope Francis replied “that’s how it is.”

Finally the pope, with some difficulty, managed to sit in the car, while the Jesuits sent him off singing “Amarte a ti Señor” (Loving Only You My Lord), a song that takes up a prayer of St. Ignatius of Loyola, founder of the Society of Jesus.

Pope Francis, who for some months has had a health problem in his knees, will make a one-week apostolic trip to Canada, in which the indigenous peoples of the country will play a leading role.