Pope Francis down with fever after exhaustion, skips all scheduled Friday meetings

Pope Francis on Friday could not attend his Friday meetings as he was down with a fever after a hectic day, a Vatican spokesperson said.

Cardinal Pietro Parolin, widely considered the Vatican No. 2, told reporters that Francis was tired and linked his fever to the exhaustion he got after greeting everyone on Thursday from his school foundation.

“He wanted to greet all of them and probably at a certain point lost his resistance,” Parolin was quoted as saying by the LaPresse news agency.

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It is unknown if the pontiff will hold private audiences on Saturday.

A Vatican official, speaking on condition of anonymity, confirmed to the AP news agency that the pope didn’t receive anyone in the audience on Friday “because of a feverish state.”

In recent years, the 86-year-old Argentine has had to go through a plethora of health issues.

In March, Francis was admitted to the hospital where he was diagnosed with acute bronchitis. He received intravenous antibiotics and was discharged from the hospital three days later.

The 89-year-old had a hectic schedule this week, as he presided over both public and closed-door meetings of the Italian bishops conference for their 77th general assembly. After that, he participated in an afternoon encounter with his school foundation Scholas Occurentes on Thursday, and met with several other prelates and visiting dignitaries.

He is due to preside over Pentecost Mass on Sunday in St. Peter’s Basilica, and in a sign that he was expected to recover quickly, the Vatican on Friday announced a new official audience with Italian President Sergio Mattarella, scheduled for Monday.

Also on May 25, Pope Francis gave an exclusive interview in Spanish to Telemundo News.

Pope’s health problems

There have always been concerns over the health of the pope ever since he was elected pontiff in March 2013. He was 76 at the time,

Before his ascension, it was widely known that when he was in his 20s he had part of one of his lungs removed in his native Argentina.

On one occasion, the pope predicted early on in his papacy that his life would be short-lived.

"This will last a short time, two or three years, and then we go to the house of the father," he told reporters in 2014, before making a chopping gesture and a whistling sound.

Last July, while returning from a trip to Canada, Francis acknowledged that his advancing age and his difficulty in walking might have ushered in a new, slower phaseof his papacy.

(With inputs from agencies)



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