Vatican media/Reuters
The pope was briefly hospitalized in March.
Rome
CNN
—
Pope Francis canceled all his scheduled meetings on Friday morning due to a fever, the Vatican said, again raising concerns about the 86-year-old pope’s health.
The Vatican press office gave no further details about the pope’s illness.
Vatican Secretary of State Cardinal Pietro Parolin said Francis was “tired” on Thursday after a “very intense day,” according to the Italian news agency ANSA.
“The Pope was tired. Yesterday he had a very intense day and saw a lot of people. There was the meeting with Scholas Occurrentes and he wanted to greet everyone personally. At a certain point people become less resistant,’ said Parolin.
Francis looked good Thursday afternoon during an event streamed live from the Vatican for Scholas Occurrentes, an international education network he founded, according to CNN’s team on the ground.
He was hospitalized in March for bronchitis but responded well to antibiotics.
When he left the hospital on that occasion, the pope joked that he is “alive”.
The pope – who suffered from severe pneumonia as a young man and had part of a lung removed – has a recent history of medical problems.
He has often been seen with a cane and sometimes uses a wheelchair due to pain in his right knee.
Last year, he canceled a trip to the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) and South Sudan after doctors said he might also have to miss a later trip to Canada unless he agreed to receive another 20 days of therapy and rest for his knee. to get. Finally, in February, he went to the DRC and South Sudan.
Francis also suffers from diverticular disease, a common condition that can cause the inflammation or infection of the colon. In 2021, he had surgery to remove part of his colon.