Pope Francis did not receive anyone in audiences on Friday because he has a fever, the Vatican has said.
The Vatican spokesperson, Matteo Bruni, did not provide any further details on the health of the 86-year-old Roman Catholic leader.
“Because of a fever, Pope Francis did not receive [anyone] in audiences this morning,” Bruni said in response to a reporter’s question about why none were listed on his daily schedule earlier in the day.
Francis spent five days in a Rome hospital at the end of March for bronchitis but recovered quickly after an infusion of antibiotics and returned to his duties, including a three-day trip to Hungary at the end of April.
He appeared to be fatigued at a meeting with students near the Vatican on Thursday afternoon.
Francis, who became pope 10 years ago, is missing part of one lung. It was removed when he was a young man in his native Argentina.
Since he assumed the papacy, he has had to cancel events, sometimes at the last minute, because of fevers. He was first taken to hospital as pope in 2021 for an operation to remove part of his colon.
None of the pope’s scheduled events have been cancelled. He is due to preside at a mass marking Pentecost on Sunday in St Peter’s Square and receive the Italian president, Sergio Mattarella, on Monday.
It was not clear if he would hold private audiences on Saturday.
The Vatican announced this week that the pope was expected to travel to Portugal from 2 to 6 August to attend World Youth Day and visit the Shrine of Fatima.
