VATICAN CITY (CNS) — In late November, during a brief audience with people involved in the sport of motorcycle racing, Pope Francis asked for prayers, joking that “my work is very accelerated, and my bike has aged and doesn’t work properly!”
Pope Francis, who celebrated his 88th birthday Dec. 17, mostly uses a wheelchair instead of walking and presides over rather than concelebrates most public liturgies. Still, he had a 2024 full of important engagements, the longest trip of his papacy and major preparations for the Holy Year 2025, which he is set to open Dec. 24.
Health-wise, 2024 was a better year for the pope than 2023, when he ended up in the hospital twice: once…