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CV NEWS FEED // During the first general audience held outside this year, Pope Francis again struggled with respiratory issues and was not able to get back to his popemobile for his traditional blessings around St. Peter’s Square.
According to an AP report, Pope Francis “again asked an aide to read his remarks and was unable to get back onto his popemobile Wednesday, as lingering respiratory and mobility problems continued to take their toll on the 87-year-old pontiff.”
Despite it being the beginning of spring, the pontiff held his traditional catechesis in a chilly St. Peter’s Square and had an aide read his catechism lesson.
As CatholicVote reported recently, the pope previously canceled an engagement with Roman deacons on February 24, citing a “mild, flu-like condition.” He returned to his usual Angelus on Sunday, February 25, but the Holy See Press Office announced the following day that Francis’ Monday audiences had been suspended “as a precaution” due to persisting flu-like symptoms.
According to the AP story, “last Wednesday, Francis went to the hospital for unspecified diagnostic tests, the results of which have not been released. He has been suffering on and off this winter from what he and the Vatican have said was a cold, bouts of bronchitis and the flu.”
