Pope Francis, who the Vatican says is still “slightly unwell,” has postponed all official audiences for Friday but is working from home.
The Vatican did not specify what the pope was suffering from. At his general audience on Wednesday he appeared to have a cold and spoke with a slightly hoarse voice, and he coughed during an afternoon Ash Wednesday service in a Rome church.
Vatican spokesman Matteo Bruni said the 83-year-old pope had said early morning Mass as customary in the chapel of the guest house and greeted those who attended.
“But he thought it was best to postpone today’s official audiences. The meetings scheduled to take place in Santa Marta will take place regularly,” Bruni said, referring to the guest house where he lives.
Bruni said the pope was “slightly unwell”.
The pope was to have received executives from Microsoft, IBM and other technology companies and make a speech to them in the Vatican that was to have been streamed to a conference in Rome on the need for ethics in Artificial Intelligence.
The Vatican said on Thursday that the pope was suffering from a “slight indisposition.” On Thursday he cancelled a visit to a Rome basilica, where he was due to preside at a Lenten service with Rome priests.
(Reuters)
