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.
Abdul El-Sayed’s Medicare-for-all crusade collides with an awkward contradiction involving his wife
GOP Senate Nominee Mike Rogers Kicks Off Race Against El-Sayed With a Big Swing
‘Large Jewish Dem Donors’ to Back Republican Mike Rogers After El-Sayed Wins Dem Primary: Report
Trump’s antitrust point man could reshape Big Tech cases against Google and Apple if confirmed
Tlaib moves to block ICE airport arrests, says TSA helping target immigrants
Israel strikes Hezbollah in Lebanon as Rome peace talks continue
Exclusive: Grieving mom reveals deadly cost of illegal immigration as daughter’s killer seeks parole
‘Oxferd Comma’ investigation being declassified by White House, with John Solomon briefing
Putin selects commander to lead new drone warfare branch of Russian military
Trump Declares El-Sayed’s Michigan Win ‘Great News for the Republican Party’
Republican who reportedly dropped out defeats Trump’s pick in key swing-district primary
Republicans move to oust embattled Florida GOP lawmaker in bitter primary fight
Musk Issues Stark Counter-Threat After Mamdani Team Member Declared Him ‘Valid Military Target’ According to Report
House Republican Ends Re-Election Campaign After Ethics Committee Recommends Censure
SpaceX Rocket Collides with Moon at 5,400 MPH
"Today in Lombardy there are 406 positive cases of #coronavirus, of which 216 hospitalised." https://t.co/5OeOXeP87q
— Breitbart London (@BreitbartLondon) February 29, 2020
Abdul El-Sayed’s Medicare-for-all crusade collides with an awkward contradiction involving his wife
GOP Senate Nominee Mike Rogers Kicks Off Race Against El-Sayed With a Big Swing
‘Large Jewish Dem Donors’ to Back Republican Mike Rogers After El-Sayed Wins Dem Primary: Report
Trump’s antitrust point man could reshape Big Tech cases against Google and Apple if confirmed
Tlaib moves to block ICE airport arrests, says TSA helping target immigrants
Israel strikes Hezbollah in Lebanon as Rome peace talks continue
Exclusive: Grieving mom reveals deadly cost of illegal immigration as daughter’s killer seeks parole
‘Oxferd Comma’ investigation being declassified by White House, with John Solomon briefing
Putin selects commander to lead new drone warfare branch of Russian military
Trump Declares El-Sayed’s Michigan Win ‘Great News for the Republican Party’
Republican who reportedly dropped out defeats Trump’s pick in key swing-district primary
Republicans move to oust embattled Florida GOP lawmaker in bitter primary fight
Musk Issues Stark Counter-Threat After Mamdani Team Member Declared Him ‘Valid Military Target’ According to Report
House Republican Ends Re-Election Campaign After Ethics Committee Recommends Censure
SpaceX Rocket Collides with Moon at 5,400 MPH
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.
