Pope Francis—using a wheelchair, as worsening knee pain restricts his mobility—ironically spoke on the topic of human fragility at a May 5 meeting with the International Union of General Superiors.

The religious superiors have dedicated their annual plenary meeting to a discussion of “embracing vulnerability on the synodal journey.” In his prepared remarks the Pope pointed to the example of Jesus, washing the feet of his apostles. He remarked that “the Church learns from her Master that, in order to be able to give her life in service to others, she is invited to recognize and accept her own fragility and, from there, to bow down to the fragility of others.”