According to sources, the 85-year-old, who has been sovereign of the Vatican City State since 2013, was wheeled into the Paul VI Hall at the Vatican for a meeting of a Catholic organisation of sisters and nuns. This comes after he has been suffering for months with pain specifically in his right knee. The pain has had crippling effects on his mobility. Before Thursday, it was reported that the Pope was only able to walk 10 metres from the side entrance to his seat, but has most likely been advised to stay in the wheelchair to help his knee heal.

This is not the first time the religious leader’s knee pain has interrupted or disturbed his schedule. But his current ailments are not expected to cause any changes to his upcoming engagements over the next few weeks.

Although there has been no official announcement as to what the problem with the Pope’s knees are, sources have reported that he is suffering from chronic arthritis – a painful joint condition.

In the past, Pope Francis has spoken about an injured ligament in his knee, for which he said he would get treatment for that involved anti-inflammatory injections directly put into the joint.

It is unclear whether this therapy has begun yet or not but, back in April, the Pope said he was mainly treating his knee pain by regularly putting ice on it and taking painkillers.

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