“I Only Have Two to Three Years Left to Live”: Pope Francis Speaks for First Time About His Own Death

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 previously 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 predecessor 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 plane.

The conference marked the end of his trip to South Korea, which he had been touring since Thursday.

He also admitted that his advisers 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 ailment’.

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 shrine 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. But he said the last time he took a holiday away from home was ‘with the Jesuit community in 1975’.

The Pope has kept up a whirlwind of activity since his election in March 2013. However he has some underlying health problems, including sciatica. He also had part of a lung removed in his youth.

Some observers claim the pontiff has gained weight and is having difficulty breathing, which could be signs of a heart condition.

He instructed advisers to clear his schedule yesterday so he could recuperate from his trip, calling off a visit to a shrine near Rome.

He also received the sad news that three members of his family had died in a car crash in Argentina.

His two young great-nephews, aged two and eight months, and their 39-year-old mother Valeria Carmona, were killed in a road accident on Monday.

Vatican spokesman Federico Lombardi said the Pope’s nephew Emanuel Bergoglio, who was driving, was in a serious condition.

He added: ‘The Pope was informed about the tragic accident. He is deeply pained.’

The family’s car reportedly collided with a lorry in the Cordoba region, north-east of Buenos Aires.

Life after Pope: Benedict's quiet days of prayer as Pope Emeritus

Pope Benedict XVI's resignation last February made him the first Catholic leader to step down in nearly 600 years.

He gave his age as his reason, but at the age of 85 and 318 days on the date of his retirement, he was only the fourth-oldest man to hold the office.

The move was unexpected since in modern times all popes have stayed in office until death. He is regarded as the first pope to have resigned without any political pressure since Celestine V in 1294.

Benedict said at the time he had chosen to step aside because the physical and mental demands of the Papacy were taking their toll on his deteriorating strength.

According to a statement from the Vatican, the timing of the resignation was not caused by any specific illness but was to "avoid that exhausting rush of Easter engagements".

Since stepping down Benedict, who decided not to revert back to his birth name Joseph Ratzinger, has held the title of Pope Emeritus and has continued living in the Vatican.

He has continued to wear the white raiments of the Catholic Church's highest office, but has dispensed with the over-the-shoulder cape that cardinals and bishops wear.

As he stepped down, Benedict declared he would continue to serve the church 'through a life dedicated to prayer'. Vatican officials have since revealed he does not live a cloistered life, but spends time writing and studying.

On the eve of the first anniversary of his resignation, Benedict wrote to Italian paper La Stampa to deny speculation he had been forced to step down.