With rumors already rife in Italian and Catholic media that Pope Francis may be retiring, the 85-year-old pontifex Maximus has now poured fuel on the fire.

He canceled numerous public appearances as a conclusion of the condition in 2021. He underwent surgery in the summer of 2021 caused diverticulitis, inflammation of the diverticula, and small bulging pouches that can form in the colon.

Hobbled by strained ligaments in his right knee that have made walking painful and difficult, he spent the last month in a wheelchair.

Sixteen of those cardinals are 80 years and eligible to vote in an election for Francis' successor. Once added to the ranks of princes of the church, Francis will have stacked the College of Cardinals with 83 of the 132 voting-age cardinals.

In announcing the 27 August consistory, Francis declared he would host two days of talks the following week to brief the cardinals about his latest apostolic constitution reforming the Vatican bureaucracy.

That file, which goes into effect Sunday, allows women to head Vatican offices, imposes term limits on priestly Vatican employees, and positions the Holy See as an institution at the service of local churches rather than vice versa.

He is one of the few pontiffs who resigned before Pope Benedict XVI stepped down in 2013. The basilica in L'Aquila organized the tomb of Celestine V, who resigned after five months in 1294, overwhelmed by the job.

No one at the time celebrates the significance of the gesture. However, four years later, the 85-year-old Benedict would follow in Celestine's footsteps and resign, saying he no longer had the strength of body and mind to carry on the rigors of the papacy.

No pope has traveled to L'Aquila since to cancel out the annual feast, which celebrates the sacrament of forgiveness so dear to Francis, noted the recent archbishop of L'Aquila, Cardinal Giuseppe Petrocchi.

Mores also said the retirement of Francis -- with Benedict already in the background as 'Emeritus pope' would create further complications. God save us from such a thing! It's already hard the way it is,' Mores said.

Journalists say that he doesn't speak publicly, but he speaks with his eyes. He added that interpreting someone who communicates with his eyes next to yet another 'Emeritus pope' would be very complicated.

The 95-year-old retired pope is physically frail; however, he is still alert and receives occasional visitors in his home in the Vatican gardens. He will not have two former popes floating around,' Bellitto said in an email.

In addition to ongoing trips this year to Congo, South Sudan, Canada, and Kazakhstan, in 2023, Francis had scheduled an important meeting of the world's bishops to debate the increasing decentralization of the Catholic Church as the continued implementation of his reform.