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Pope with crutch: Recently, the health of the spiritual leader was stable
Photo: Ettore Ferrari / ZUMA Wire / IMAGO
Pope Francis canceled an audience this Thursday.
The Vatican cited a “severe cold” of the spiritual head of the Catholic Church as the reason.
It was announced early in the morning that the 86-year-old would hold four individual audiences and three group audiences on Thursday.
After the first four meetings, he felt so bad that he was no longer able to deliver the speeches he had prepared for the appointments.
Instead, these were distributed as copies.
The last group audience was then completely omitted, the Vatican announced.
A youth group from Italy was affected.
On Wednesday, the pope coughed during a ceremony in a church in Rome and did not take part in a traditional procession.
In 2021, the pope had an operation on his intestines.
When a reporter asked him how he was doing, he replied: "I'm still alive." There was then speculation that he might resign.
Last July, however, the Pope denied these rumors.
He never thought about resigning.
He also described a possible cancer as “court gossip”.
As a young man, the Argentine had part of a lung removed after contracting a respiratory infection.
Recently, the Pope's health had been stable - apart from a knee problem, which is why he uses a crutch or a wheelchair.
On March 13, Francis will be in office for ten years.
lmd/Reuters
