On a plane trip back from South Korea, he told journalists he believed he only had limited time left to complete his reforms of the Roman Catholic Church.

 

Asked about how he copes with his popularity, he said: 'I try to think of my sins, my mistakes, so as not to think that I am some- body important.'

 

He then added with a smile: 'Because I know this is going to last a short time, two or three years and then...to the house of the Father.'

 

According to a Vatican source, the 77-year-old has previously¹ told those close to him that he thought he only had a few years left.

 

He also revealed that he would consider retiring if he felt he could no longer perform his duties.

 

His predecessor² Pope Benedict XVI resigned in February last year.

 

'If you asked me if, in the future, I felt I could not go forward, would I do the same? I would do the same. Benedict has opened a door,' Francis said on board the papal（教宗的） plane.

 

He also admitted that his advisers³ have been encouraging him to rest more after he cancelled a series of engagements earlier in the year.

 

In June he cancelled a visit to the Gemelli Hospital in Rome due to a 'sudden ailment⁴'.

 

At the time he told Catholic television station TV2000: 'We are not masters of our own lives, we cannot arrange things to suit us. We have to accept fragility.'

 

He also called off trips to a shrine⁵ in February and a seminary in May.

 

'Those were very demanding days. And now I have to be a bit more sensible,' he said, adding that he had been sleeping more over the past two months.

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