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.
Zelensky’s missile plea shows dire state of Ukraine’s war machine
Blanche praises career DOJ staff and vows to leave agency better ‘than when I found it’
Scope of CCP-backed Chinese exchange program inside American schools uncovered in sweeping report
Over 100,000 Canadians sign petition for the removal of US ambassador
Karoline Leavitt Made the Right Decision, And More Young Women Should Follow Her Example
Dem Senate nominee admits ‘I take responsibility’ after police report alleges he broke down door, punched man
Studio That Helped Build Hollywood Considers Leaving California Due to Actions of Gavin Newsom Admin
Luigi Mangione expected to plead guilty in federal case
Invasion of Texas: Dallas-Fort Worth Airport to Put Islamic Foot Wash Stations in Bathrooms
Watch: CNN Data Analyst Admits People Simply ‘Don’t Care’ About Left-Wing Climate Alarmism Anymore
Justice Department slams ‘politically motivated demands’ of DC Council asking govs to remove National Guard
Mamdani’s openness to campaigning with Hochul shows how far they’ve come
DOJ threatens California with lawsuit over ‘unbroken pattern’ of sexual abuse in women’s prisons
Trump admin marks 15 straight months with zero border releases as apprehensions plunge 94%
Florida father gunned down while intervening in fight after dropping daughter off for first day of school
"Today in Lombardy there are 406 positive cases of #coronavirus, of which 216 hospitalised." https://t.co/5OeOXeP87q
— Breitbart London (@BreitbartLondon) February 29, 2020
Zelensky’s missile plea shows dire state of Ukraine’s war machine
Blanche praises career DOJ staff and vows to leave agency better ‘than when I found it’
Scope of CCP-backed Chinese exchange program inside American schools uncovered in sweeping report
Over 100,000 Canadians sign petition for the removal of US ambassador
Karoline Leavitt Made the Right Decision, And More Young Women Should Follow Her Example
Dem Senate nominee admits ‘I take responsibility’ after police report alleges he broke down door, punched man
Studio That Helped Build Hollywood Considers Leaving California Due to Actions of Gavin Newsom Admin
Luigi Mangione expected to plead guilty in federal case
Invasion of Texas: Dallas-Fort Worth Airport to Put Islamic Foot Wash Stations in Bathrooms
Watch: CNN Data Analyst Admits People Simply ‘Don’t Care’ About Left-Wing Climate Alarmism Anymore
Justice Department slams ‘politically motivated demands’ of DC Council asking govs to remove National Guard
Mamdani’s openness to campaigning with Hochul shows how far they’ve come
DOJ threatens California with lawsuit over ‘unbroken pattern’ of sexual abuse in women’s prisons
Trump admin marks 15 straight months with zero border releases as apprehensions plunge 94%
Florida father gunned down while intervening in fight after dropping daughter off for first day of school
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.
