Pope Francis Cancels Planned Audience And Skipped Speeches Too

Due to a nasty cold, Pope Francis postponed one audience and skipped talks scheduled for Thursday, according to the Vatican.

Francis, 86, did meet with a group of young Orthodox priests, monks, and researchers from the Max Planck Society, a German organization that is commemorating its 75th anniversary this year.

Yet due to a “bad cold,” Francis only had printed versions of his statements distributed and did not read them out live, according to a message from the Vatican.

He later canceled a meeting with YMCA members in Italy, the Holy See reported in its daily bulletin.

Francis chose not to take part in the customary parade that marks the beginning of the church’s Lenten season because he frequently coughed while presiding over Ash Wednesday services at a church in Rome.

Francis experienced a bad cold around the same time of the year in 2020, just as the coronavirus pandemic was beginning to spread to Italy. This forced him to postpone several days of official audiences as well as his participation in the Vatican’s annual spiritual retreat.

The retreat for this year had already been scrapped in favor of solitary spiritual practices by the Vatican.

The Argentine pope had a portion of one lung amputated when he was a young man due to a respiratory ailment, and he underwent colon surgery in 2021 due to intestinal inflammation.

Due to stretched knee ligaments and a minor knee fracture that makes walking and standing challenging, he has been using a wheelchair and cane since last year.

We pray Pope Francis feels better soon.