Three relatives of Pope Francis were killed and a fourth was in critical condition Tuesday when their car crashed into a truck on a provincial highway in Argentina.
The pope’s nephew, Horacio Bergoglio, was traveling with his wife and two children in the central province of Cordoba when their car rear-ended a truck, Highway Police Superintendent Jorge Raineri said.
The deceased include the nephew’s 36-year-old wife, Valeria Carmona, and her children, an 8-month-old baby and a 2-year-old. Bergoglio, the son of the pope’s late brother Alberto, was hospitalized in critical condition.
Vatican spokesman the Rev. Federico Lombardi said that “the pope was informed about the tragic accident. He is deeply pained.” He added the pope asks “all who share in his grief to unite with him in prayer.”
The tragic news comes just a day after Pope Francis publicly predicted his own death to reporters Monday while on a flight back to the Vatican and said he would step down from the papacy when he felt his time was near.
The 77-year-old pontiff made the eerie epiphany when he was asked about his recent five-day visit in South Korea and what it felt like to be adored by so many people around the world, AFP reports.
“I see it as the generosity of the people of God. I try to think of my sins, my mistakes, not to become proud. Because I know it will last only a short time. Two or three years and then I’ll be off to the Father’s House,” he cheerfully told reporters.
Francis has not been very vocal about his own death in the past, but a Vatican source told AFP that his holiness had felt he only had a few years left in him.
The always humble pontiff added that if he felt his time approaching, he would make sure to step down so someone could adequately perform his duties, according to AFP.
“Benedict XVI opened a door,” Francis said, referring to the former pope’s shocking retirement last year.
Francis added that relinquishing the papacy was something he would choose to do “even if it does not appeal to some theologians.”
The Argentinian also admitted that he may soon need to start receiving medical treatment for problems he had been having with the nerves in his body.
“Must treat them well, these nerves, give them mate (stimulant tea from Argentina) every day,” he jokingly told reporters.
“One of these neuroses is that I’m too much of a homebody,” he added.