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.
Crockett blasts ‘left’ for alleged skin darkening in ads as Texas Senate clash heats up
EPA scraps Biden coal restrictions as advocates say move will restore American dominance
Trump Accuses Supreme Court of Being Influenced by ‘Foreign Interests’ Following Tariff Ruling
Trump Slams Supreme Court for Not Addressing Tariff Refunds in Ruling: ‘Not Written by Smart People’
Omar calls GOP probe into husband’s $30M business surge a ‘political stunt’ as records deadline passes
President Trump Announces ‘Different Direction’ on Tariffs Following SCOTUS Decision, And Might Charge Countries More Than Before
Sanctuary City Detroit to Fire Cops After They Cooperated with ICE – DHS Responds
Fox News Poll: Trump’s tariffs faced broad disapproval even before Supreme Court ruling
Kim Jong Un declares ‘everything has fundamentally changed’ as world watches Workers’ Party Congress for clues
‘Tariffs suck’: Some Republicans privately celebrate as Supreme Court blocks Trump policy
Trump responds to Supreme Court ruling rejecting sweeping tariffs powers: ‘A disgrace’
Illegal immigrant allegedly ambushed woman on Florida beach in random attempted drowning attack: police
White teens cleared of hate crime allegations levied by Black Virginia Tech professor
BREAKING: Trump Reportedly Rips Supreme Court Tariff Ruling as a ‘Disgrace’ – He Has Plan B
GOP Politician’s Vehicle Shot up, Home Targeted as Leftists Continue to Scream False Charges of Fascism, Racism, and Nazism
"Today in Lombardy there are 406 positive cases of #coronavirus, of which 216 hospitalised." https://t.co/5OeOXeP87q
— Breitbart London (@BreitbartLondon) February 29, 2020
Crockett blasts ‘left’ for alleged skin darkening in ads as Texas Senate clash heats up
EPA scraps Biden coal restrictions as advocates say move will restore American dominance
Trump Accuses Supreme Court of Being Influenced by ‘Foreign Interests’ Following Tariff Ruling
Trump Slams Supreme Court for Not Addressing Tariff Refunds in Ruling: ‘Not Written by Smart People’
Omar calls GOP probe into husband’s $30M business surge a ‘political stunt’ as records deadline passes
President Trump Announces ‘Different Direction’ on Tariffs Following SCOTUS Decision, And Might Charge Countries More Than Before
Sanctuary City Detroit to Fire Cops After They Cooperated with ICE – DHS Responds
Fox News Poll: Trump’s tariffs faced broad disapproval even before Supreme Court ruling
Kim Jong Un declares ‘everything has fundamentally changed’ as world watches Workers’ Party Congress for clues
‘Tariffs suck’: Some Republicans privately celebrate as Supreme Court blocks Trump policy
Trump responds to Supreme Court ruling rejecting sweeping tariffs powers: ‘A disgrace’
Illegal immigrant allegedly ambushed woman on Florida beach in random attempted drowning attack: police
White teens cleared of hate crime allegations levied by Black Virginia Tech professor
BREAKING: Trump Reportedly Rips Supreme Court Tariff Ruling as a ‘Disgrace’ – He Has Plan B
GOP Politician’s Vehicle Shot up, Home Targeted as Leftists Continue to Scream False Charges of Fascism, Racism, and Nazism
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.
