Illness forces Pope Francis to cancel meetings weeks after hospitalization
Jeremiah Poff
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Pope Francis canceled all of his meetings and engagements Friday due to what the Vatican says is a fever that comes weeks after the pope endured a four-day hospital stay due to a lung infection.
Vatican spokesman Matteo Bruni confirmed that the pope had “a feverish condition” and had canceled all meetings, according to Catholic News Agency.
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The pope’s latest illness comes two months after he was admitted to Gemelli Hospital in Rome following an audience in St. Peter’s Square. The pope, who is 86 years old, stayed at the hospital for four days due to a lung infection.
Despite the recent illness, Francis has maintained a fairly active public schedule, including a three-day visit to Hungary at the end of April that came less than a month after his hospital stay.
Francis is currently scheduled to celebrate Mass for Pentecost on Sunday, a solemn feast day in the Catholic Church that marks the end of the Easter season. The Vatican has not said whether those plans are in jeopardy.
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The pontiff’s health has visibly deteriorated in recent years as he is now the oldest reigning pope since Pope Leo XIII, who died in 1903 at the age of 93.
In 2021, Pope Francis underwent surgery to remove a portion of his colon to treat inflammation of his intestine, a condition known as diverticulitis. He has also increasingly been using a wheelchair or a cane due to ligament damage in his knee.