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.
Republicans narrowly reject efforts to handcuff Trump’s war powers in Venezuela
Patel reveals bizarre ‘self-awarded’ trophy former FBI officials made to celebrate Trump probe
NYT: Murder Rate Hits 125-Year Low in Trump’s First Year Back in Office — Biggest Single-Year Drop Ever
Jack Smith dodges questions on Cassidy Hutchinson witness credibility
Paris Hilton teams up with AOC to push House to pass stalled AI deepfake porn bill
Top AZ county lawyer fired after dad accuses him of filming 12-year-old at store, performing sex act in car
Anti-abortion groups keep pressure on White House after March for Life olive branch
Mattel’s Autistic Barbie – Fidget Spinner and All – Draws Fire from Critics as Fans Rave: ‘So Cool and So Beautiful’
White House, DHS push back on claims ICE targeted 5-year-old in Minnesota, say child was ‘abandoned’
Zelenskyy blasts global inaction on Iran, claims Europe stuck in ‘Greenland mode’
Convicted Minnesota fraudster alleges Walz, Ellison were aware of widespread fraud
Glenn Beck Calls on Trump to Fire Pam Bondi After a Year on the Job, Cites Lack of Major Prosecutions
BREAKING: Minnesota Judge Refuses to Sign Criminal Complaint Charging Don Lemon for Storming Church
Newsom posts himself as ‘Sparkle Beach’ Ken Barbie doll in clap back at Bessent
It’s Gotten Worse: New MRC Study Shows Media Bias Against Trump Has Hit New High – More Than 9/10 at Times
"Today in Lombardy there are 406 positive cases of #coronavirus, of which 216 hospitalised." https://t.co/5OeOXeP87q
— Breitbart London (@BreitbartLondon) February 29, 2020
Republicans narrowly reject efforts to handcuff Trump’s war powers in Venezuela
Patel reveals bizarre ‘self-awarded’ trophy former FBI officials made to celebrate Trump probe
NYT: Murder Rate Hits 125-Year Low in Trump’s First Year Back in Office — Biggest Single-Year Drop Ever
Jack Smith dodges questions on Cassidy Hutchinson witness credibility
Paris Hilton teams up with AOC to push House to pass stalled AI deepfake porn bill
Top AZ county lawyer fired after dad accuses him of filming 12-year-old at store, performing sex act in car
Anti-abortion groups keep pressure on White House after March for Life olive branch
Mattel’s Autistic Barbie – Fidget Spinner and All – Draws Fire from Critics as Fans Rave: ‘So Cool and So Beautiful’
White House, DHS push back on claims ICE targeted 5-year-old in Minnesota, say child was ‘abandoned’
Zelenskyy blasts global inaction on Iran, claims Europe stuck in ‘Greenland mode’
Convicted Minnesota fraudster alleges Walz, Ellison were aware of widespread fraud
Glenn Beck Calls on Trump to Fire Pam Bondi After a Year on the Job, Cites Lack of Major Prosecutions
BREAKING: Minnesota Judge Refuses to Sign Criminal Complaint Charging Don Lemon for Storming Church
Newsom posts himself as ‘Sparkle Beach’ Ken Barbie doll in clap back at Bessent
It’s Gotten Worse: New MRC Study Shows Media Bias Against Trump Has Hit New High – More Than 9/10 at Times
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.
