Vatican City: Pope Francis has cancelled his week-long spiritual retreat in the Roman countryside because of a cold. He has canceled several official engagements this week as he battled a cold.
The Pope made this announcement to the pilgrims gathered for the traditional Sunday blessing.
It is the first time in his seven-year papacy that he has missed the spiritual exercises that he initiated early in his pontificate to mark the start of each Lenten season.
Francis’ illness, has come amid general alarm in Italy over the coronavirus outbreak, which has infected more than 1,100 people, mostly in northern Italy.There have been just six cases reported in Lazio, where Rome is located, to date.
The 83-year-old Pope had lost part of a lung to a respiratory illness as a young man.
His weekly appearance Sunday to pilgrims from a window high above St. Peter’s Square was the first time he has been seen publicly since Ash Wednesday, when he was seen coughing and blowing his nose during Mass, reports AP News.
Francis paused twice to cough Sunday while addressing the faithful. At the end, he asked for prayers for the spiritual retreat, adding “unfortunately a cold prevents me from participating this year. I will be following the meditation from here.”
Earlier this week, the pope canceled 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.
The Vatican has described Francis’ condition as “a slight illness,” without giving other details.
