Francis will retire ‘as Benedict did, when the Lord sends a sign’

Pope Francis has revealed that he plans to follow in the footsteps of Pope Benedict and retire when he is “no longer able to go on”, writes Hannah Roberts.

Benedict “opened a door and created an institution” when he became the first Pope in 600 years to step down last year, Francis said. In an interview with the Barcelona newspaper La Vanguardia, he explained: “We tend to reach an age where we cannot carry on. I will do the same as him, ask the Lord to send me a sign when I reach that time and tell me what to do and he will certainly tell me.”

 Pressed on the secession movements across Europe, Francis warned against independence for Scotland, which will be decided in a referendum in September. He distinguished between  “independence for emancipation” and “independence for secession”, listing Catalonia, northern Italy and Scotland as cases that “should be studied on a case by case basis”.

Francis defended Pope Pius XII’s record during the Second World War, claiming that when Vatican archives were opened they “would shed a lot of light”.