VATICAN CITY (AP) – Pope Francis cancelled official engagements for the third day in a row Saturday as he battled an apparent cold.
The 83-year-old pope, who lost part of a lung to a respiratory illness as a young man, has never cancelled so many official audiences or events in his seven-year papacy.
Francis is, however, continuing to work from his residence at the Vatican’s Santa Marta hotel and is receiving people in private, the Vatican press office said. On Saturday, those private meetings were with the head of the Vatican’s bishops’ office, Francis’ ambassadors to Lebanon and France and a Ukrainian archbishop.
Cancelled were his two planned official audiences — formal affairs in the Apostolic Palace where Francis would have delivered a speech and greeted a great number of people at the end. Those were to include an audience with an international bioethics organization and with members of the scandal-marred Legion of Christ religious order.
Agitators Sabotage Winter Olympics Opening, Throw Fireworks as Police Fight Back with Water Cannon, Tear Gas
Federal appeals court upholds Trump mass detention policy for illegal immigrants
Sheriff leading Guthrie investigation spotted at basketball game as family pleads again with alleged ransomers
Anti-ICE agitators arrested at federal building in Minneapolis after lewd objects hurled at law enforcement
Tulsi Gabbard denies wrongdoing over delayed whistleblower complaint referral to Congress members: ‘Baseless’
Nicki Minaj fans say they’re leaving Democrat Party as rapper’s politics spark backlash and praise
Newsom Investigates After Reports of Anti-Trump Social Media Censorship (Where Was He When Twitter Banned Trump?) Then the Embarrassing Truth Hit
Calm amid chaos: Noem defies calls to resign, touts border victory as shutdowns, storms, and riots swirl
This Senate Democrat wants voter ID for his campaign events — but not federal elections
Ellen DeGeneres Comes Crawling Back to US After Fleeing Post-Trump Victory, Buys $27 Million California Mansion
Virginia Democrat gives profanity-laced response to Cruz’s criticism of the state’s redistricting push
Trump Admin Discovers ‘Staggering’ Billions Stolen in Suspected California Small Business Fraud
Two teens arrested after 15-year-old shot near Washington DC’s Union Station
Bishop Ronald Hicks replaces Dolan as Archbishop of New York with installation at St Patrick’s
Trump Announces ‘Clues’ Found in Nancy Guthrie Disappearance: ‘We Could Have Some Answers’
"Today in Lombardy there are 406 positive cases of #coronavirus, of which 216 hospitalised." https://t.co/5OeOXeP87q
— Breitbart London (@BreitbartLondon) February 29, 2020
Agitators Sabotage Winter Olympics Opening, Throw Fireworks as Police Fight Back with Water Cannon, Tear Gas
Federal appeals court upholds Trump mass detention policy for illegal immigrants
Sheriff leading Guthrie investigation spotted at basketball game as family pleads again with alleged ransomers
Anti-ICE agitators arrested at federal building in Minneapolis after lewd objects hurled at law enforcement
Tulsi Gabbard denies wrongdoing over delayed whistleblower complaint referral to Congress members: ‘Baseless’
Nicki Minaj fans say they’re leaving Democrat Party as rapper’s politics spark backlash and praise
Newsom Investigates After Reports of Anti-Trump Social Media Censorship (Where Was He When Twitter Banned Trump?) Then the Embarrassing Truth Hit
Calm amid chaos: Noem defies calls to resign, touts border victory as shutdowns, storms, and riots swirl
This Senate Democrat wants voter ID for his campaign events — but not federal elections
Ellen DeGeneres Comes Crawling Back to US After Fleeing Post-Trump Victory, Buys $27 Million California Mansion
Virginia Democrat gives profanity-laced response to Cruz’s criticism of the state’s redistricting push
Trump Admin Discovers ‘Staggering’ Billions Stolen in Suspected California Small Business Fraud
Two teens arrested after 15-year-old shot near Washington DC’s Union Station
Bishop Ronald Hicks replaces Dolan as Archbishop of New York with installation at St Patrick’s
Trump Announces ‘Clues’ Found in Nancy Guthrie Disappearance: ‘We Could Have Some Answers’
On Sunday, Francis is expected to leave the Vatican with top Holy See bureaucrats for a week of spiritual exercises in the Roman countryside, an annual retreat that the pope attends at the start of each Lent.
Francis last appeared in public on Wednesday, when he was seen coughing and blowing his nose during an Ash Wednesday Mass. The following day, he cancelled a Mass across town with Roman priests and on Friday, skipped an audience with participants of a Vatican conference on artificial intelligence.
The Vatican has stressed that Francis has celebrated Mass each morning and greeted attendees at the end, and then proceeded to continue working from home.
The Vatican hasn’t revealed the nature of Francis’ illness, saying only he has a “slight indisposition.” Francis’ illness, though, has come amid general alarm in Italy over the coronavirus outbreak, which has sickened more than 800 people, most in northern Italy.
Sky News Anchor Asks if @VP Mike Pence, as a Christian, Is Fit for #Coronavirus Role https://t.co/LvOLuaS3wJ
— Breitbart London (@BreitbartLondon) February 28, 2020
Story cited here.
