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.
Democrat scrambles to meet Angel Mom after she blasts lawmakers to their faces for ignoring families’ pleas
Socialist-backed Dem who ripped the wealthy cracks state’s top 1%, tax returns show
Tyler Robinson’s father runs thriving hometown business as taxpayers face possible $10M defense bill: report
‘Today’ show security guard fired after intruder enters unauthorized area, targets Craig Melvin: report
Trump Admin Notifies States ‘Whose Election Data Was Compromised’ by China
US Forces Pound Key Targets, Iranians Respond by Hitting Kuwait’s Water Supply, Firing Missiles at Qatar
State Department fires back after Walz doubles down on pardon of convicted child rapist
Controversial ICE tactic actually reduces unintended ‘collateral’ arrests: federal agent
Trump’s team talked him out of making ‘crazier’ claims in voting security speech: Report
Jack Smith’s legacy under scrutiny as questions mount over Trump case tactics
Fed is laser-focused on inflation drop, Warsh says
Conservatives unite around Save America Act after Trump declassifies ‘shocking’ election intel
Think your state is expensive? New data reveals where Americans face the highest cost-of-living
South Carolina GOP primary will end in replacement nominee for late Sen. Lindsey Graham
Breaking: DHS Identifies 278,000 Foreigners Illegally Registered to Vote in Federal Elections
"Today in Lombardy there are 406 positive cases of #coronavirus, of which 216 hospitalised." https://t.co/5OeOXeP87q
— Breitbart London (@BreitbartLondon) February 29, 2020
Democrat scrambles to meet Angel Mom after she blasts lawmakers to their faces for ignoring families’ pleas
Socialist-backed Dem who ripped the wealthy cracks state’s top 1%, tax returns show
Tyler Robinson’s father runs thriving hometown business as taxpayers face possible $10M defense bill: report
‘Today’ show security guard fired after intruder enters unauthorized area, targets Craig Melvin: report
Trump Admin Notifies States ‘Whose Election Data Was Compromised’ by China
US Forces Pound Key Targets, Iranians Respond by Hitting Kuwait’s Water Supply, Firing Missiles at Qatar
State Department fires back after Walz doubles down on pardon of convicted child rapist
Controversial ICE tactic actually reduces unintended ‘collateral’ arrests: federal agent
Trump’s team talked him out of making ‘crazier’ claims in voting security speech: Report
Jack Smith’s legacy under scrutiny as questions mount over Trump case tactics
Fed is laser-focused on inflation drop, Warsh says
Conservatives unite around Save America Act after Trump declassifies ‘shocking’ election intel
Think your state is expensive? New data reveals where Americans face the highest cost-of-living
South Carolina GOP primary will end in replacement nominee for late Sen. Lindsey Graham
Breaking: DHS Identifies 278,000 Foreigners Illegally Registered to Vote in Federal Elections
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.
