By Philip Pullella

VALLETTA (Reuters) – Pope Francis had to make use of an elevator to board a aircraft taking him to Malta on Saturday, with Vatican spokesman Matteo Bruni saying it was to “keep away from pointless pressure”.

It was the primary time within the pope’s 36 journeys overseas that he didn’t stroll up the aircraft steps on his personal. The 85-year-old pope, who’s making a two-day go to to Malta, suffers from sciatica, a nerve situation that causes ache in his legs.

Whereas on the aircraft, the pope was in good spirits when greeting journalists onboard, however he was strolling down the aisle of the plane with issue.

He additionally used an elevator to disembark the aircraft as soon as it landed in Valletta, Malta’s capital.

Francis was compelled to cancel a visit to Florence in February and didn’t participate within the Ash Wednesday companies this 12 months due to an acute flare up of ache in his knee.

The pope was hospitalised for 11 days in July for surgical procedure to take away a part of his colon. After a interval of relaxation he made a gruelling journey to Hungary and Slovakia in September.

He has been basically good well being since however has often complained of ache in his leg and knee.