Pope resumes normal activities after a day off for health reasons

Pope Francis resumed his activities Saturday after taking a day off due to a feverish state, the Vatican said, with the pontiff scheduled to participate in several private audiences today. The 86-year-old pope, who was hospitalized for bronchitis nearly two months ago, has a full schedule of meetings, it added.

On Friday, Holy See spokesman Matteo Bruni said the Argentine pope had canceled his appointments "due to feverishness" and general fatigue. Jorge Bergoglio had eight meetings on Thursday, addressing nuns, the Italian bishops' conference and a group of young people from the Scholas Occurrentes educational network.

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The pope usually receives his interlocutors - associations, religious, rulers - in the morning at the Vatican for official audiences during which he regularly delivers speeches, while his afternoons are devoted to work and his private appointments.

The pope is scheduled to preside Sunday in public at the Pentecost Mass and the Regina Caeli prayer at the Vatican. On Monday, he is due to meet Italian President Sergio Mattarella.

The health of Jorge Bergoglio, elected in 2013, regularly fuels speculation about the possibility of relinquishing his office and his succession. He has repeatedly said he would consider resigning — like his predecessor Benedict XVI, who died in December — if his health faltered, but he said recently that this was not the case.

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In July 2021, the bishop of Rome had already been hospitalized for ten days for a heavy colon operation. He claims to have kept "sequelae" of anesthesia, which pushed him to rule out knee surgery so far.

In late March, the pope was admitted to a hospital in Rome after having difficulty breathing and stayed there for three nights. He was treated with antibiotics for bronchitis. Leaving the Gemelli hospital on April 1, the pope joked with worshippers and journalists, telling them, "I'm still alive."