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.
Mysterious Washington, D.C., Power Outage Impacts Government Agencies a Day Before Midterms
Battleground Dem touts bipartisan record, but can’t name single issue she’d work with Trump on
Trump spends nearly half of his midterm closing pitch talking about Reflecting Pool renovations
Polish foreign minister blames rule-of-law crisis on ‘alliance’ of Russian bots and ‘global far right’
Multiple people killed, others injured in shooting near California beach
Paxton’s Office Nails Felons Allegedly Voting in TX Election – Multiple Arrests, Numerous Investigations
Pentagon’s top spies tasked with ‘no-fail’ mission as Hegseth puts foreign midterm meddling in crosshairs
Mike Rogers Accused of ‘Cowardly Compromise’ After Stunning Abortion Flip-Flop
Breaking: Judge Dismisses Charges Against FBI Agents Accused of Lying About Hunter Biden Laptop
Woman, 20, identified as co-pilot of plane that crashed in Florida
Judge dismisses criminal complaint against two ex-FBI officials accused of lying to Congress about Hunter Biden
Union boss stuns with major Republican endorsement as election nears
Talarico campaigns alongside Democrat who called ICE ‘new KKK’ and demanded its abolition
Democratic Senator Chris Murphy Hospitalized After Suffering Stroke
Martha Stewart Makes Homeless Costume 10x Worse With One of the Most Disastrous Apologies We’ve Ever Heard
"Today in Lombardy there are 406 positive cases of #coronavirus, of which 216 hospitalised." https://t.co/5OeOXeP87q
— Breitbart London (@BreitbartLondon) February 29, 2020
Mysterious Washington, D.C., Power Outage Impacts Government Agencies a Day Before Midterms
Battleground Dem touts bipartisan record, but can’t name single issue she’d work with Trump on
Trump spends nearly half of his midterm closing pitch talking about Reflecting Pool renovations
Polish foreign minister blames rule-of-law crisis on ‘alliance’ of Russian bots and ‘global far right’
Multiple people killed, others injured in shooting near California beach
Paxton’s Office Nails Felons Allegedly Voting in TX Election – Multiple Arrests, Numerous Investigations
Pentagon’s top spies tasked with ‘no-fail’ mission as Hegseth puts foreign midterm meddling in crosshairs
Mike Rogers Accused of ‘Cowardly Compromise’ After Stunning Abortion Flip-Flop
Breaking: Judge Dismisses Charges Against FBI Agents Accused of Lying About Hunter Biden Laptop
Woman, 20, identified as co-pilot of plane that crashed in Florida
Judge dismisses criminal complaint against two ex-FBI officials accused of lying to Congress about Hunter Biden
Union boss stuns with major Republican endorsement as election nears
Talarico campaigns alongside Democrat who called ICE ‘new KKK’ and demanded its abolition
Democratic Senator Chris Murphy Hospitalized After Suffering Stroke
Martha Stewart Makes Homeless Costume 10x Worse With One of the Most Disastrous Apologies We’ve Ever Heard
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.
