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.
FBI returns ‘Most Wanted’ fraudster to US after India arrest in alleged $600K SNAP food stamp fraud scheme
Trans neo-Nazi accused of plotting Hindu temple massacre, will receive hormone treatment in jail: officials
Washington Post Now Luring Women to OnlyFans, Suggesting Pay up to 1,600x Higher Than What Most Women Make
‘Oh, shut up!’: Democrat snaps at Collins after heckler drives Maine Senate debate off the rails
Kelly Clarkson Gets Worst Backup Possible as Loathed Star Kathy Griffin Comes to Her Defense in Insane Feud with Small Shop Owner
Can cooking for terrorists bar asylum? Supreme Court takes up unusual case with broader immigration stakes
Breaking: 3 Children, 1 Adult Killed in Elementary School Shooting
Marjorie Taylor Greene Lashes Out at Trump, Defends Ilhan Omar, Whom She Tried to Censure
Alleged leftist militants charged with gun crime just before Trump stopped enforcement
Michigan GOP gubernatorial candidate John James skips Vance rally, citing debate prep
Hollywood Mega Producer Admits to Joe Rogan That Once Societies Abandon God, They Turn To Tyranny
Active shooter report at Oregon elementary school draws large police response
‘One of a Kind’ Pastor Serving in Trump Administration Dies at Age 47
Ilhan Omar’s husband snaps over rumors she fled US after federal immigration fraud raid
Horse farm owner gets life in prison for boyfriend’s murder after claiming self-defense
"Today in Lombardy there are 406 positive cases of #coronavirus, of which 216 hospitalised." https://t.co/5OeOXeP87q
— Breitbart London (@BreitbartLondon) February 29, 2020
FBI returns ‘Most Wanted’ fraudster to US after India arrest in alleged $600K SNAP food stamp fraud scheme
Trans neo-Nazi accused of plotting Hindu temple massacre, will receive hormone treatment in jail: officials
Washington Post Now Luring Women to OnlyFans, Suggesting Pay up to 1,600x Higher Than What Most Women Make
‘Oh, shut up!’: Democrat snaps at Collins after heckler drives Maine Senate debate off the rails
Kelly Clarkson Gets Worst Backup Possible as Loathed Star Kathy Griffin Comes to Her Defense in Insane Feud with Small Shop Owner
Can cooking for terrorists bar asylum? Supreme Court takes up unusual case with broader immigration stakes
Breaking: 3 Children, 1 Adult Killed in Elementary School Shooting
Marjorie Taylor Greene Lashes Out at Trump, Defends Ilhan Omar, Whom She Tried to Censure
Alleged leftist militants charged with gun crime just before Trump stopped enforcement
Michigan GOP gubernatorial candidate John James skips Vance rally, citing debate prep
Hollywood Mega Producer Admits to Joe Rogan That Once Societies Abandon God, They Turn To Tyranny
Active shooter report at Oregon elementary school draws large police response
‘One of a Kind’ Pastor Serving in Trump Administration Dies at Age 47
Ilhan Omar’s husband snaps over rumors she fled US after federal immigration fraud raid
Horse farm owner gets life in prison for boyfriend’s murder after claiming self-defense
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.
