ROME – After taking several days off due to what the Vatican described as a mild flu, Pope Francis on 28 February resumed his normal schedule, though an aide read his remarks during a public address, after which the Pope underwent tests at a hospital in Rome.
Speaking to attendees of his general audience, Pope Francis said “I am still a bit sick, and because of this I have asked Monsignor [Filippo] Ciampanelli to read the catechesis”.
Ciampanelli, an official of the Vatican’s Secretariat of State, read the Pope’s speech, but Francis delivered the traditional greetings to different language groups himself.
The Vatican announced at the weekend that Pope Francis had cancelled his audiences that day because he was suffering from a “mild flu-like state”.
While Francis delivered his Sunday Angelus address as planned, he also cancelled Monday’s commitments due to his ongoing cold, though the Vatican clarified that he had no fever. He had no publicly announced appointments on Tuesday before his 28 Feb. address.
Having aides read his public remarks when feeling poorly but strong enough to maintain his schedule has become a habit for the Pope, who at the end of last year had officials of the Secretariat of State read several public speeches while he was suffering from a respiratory infection that caused him to cancel a planned trip to Dubai for the COP28 climate summit.
The Vatican announced that later on 28 February, Pope Francis after concluding his general audience went to the Fatebenefratelli Hospital on Rome’s Tiber Island for unspecified “diagnostic tests” that had not been previously announced. Italian media report that he left the facility around noon, local time.
In Wednesday’s address, Pope Francis focused on the topic of envy, and afterward issued an appeal for prayer for all people “who are suffering war”, including the people of Ukraine and of Israel and Palestine.
He also urged prayers for the people of Haiti, “where crimes and kidnappings by armed gangs continue”, and acknowledged the 25th anniversary of the United Nations convention on anti-personnel mines, saying mines “continue to hit innocent civilians, especially children even many years after the end of hostilities”.
The Pope also gave blessings to various members of the public, including particularly happy-looking newly weds and a pregnant woman, making the sign of the cross over her bump.
Photo: Pope Francis’ blesses a newly married couple during the weekly general audience at the Paul-VI hall, Vatican, Italy, 28 February 2024. (Photo by Tiziana FABI / AFP) (Photo by TIZIANA FABI/AFP via Getty Images.)
Areas of Catholic Herald business are still recovering post-pandemic.
However, we are reaching out to the Catholic community and readership, that has been so loyal to the Catholic Herald. Please join us on our 135 year mission by supporting us.
We are raising £250,000 to safeguard the Herald as a world-leading voice in Catholic journalism and teaching.
We have been a bold and influential voice in the church since 1888, standing up for traditional Catholic culture and values. Please consider donating.