He Papa Franciscosuffering from the flu, said he assigned his aide to give the speech at Saturday’s ceremony because he couldn’t read it because of bronchitis.

“I have prepared a speech, but, as you can see, I can’t read because of bronchitis. “I asked Monsignor (Filippo) Ciampanelli to read it to me,” the Pope said hoarsely.

The speech was at the opening ceremony of the judicial year of the Vatican court.

After this, the Pope was able to meet with German Chancellor Olaf Scholzduring an audience at the Vatican.

Francisco, 87 years oldI’ve been having a few health problems lately.

On Wednesday he went briefly to a Rome hospital for a check-up after being unable to read to his weekly audience, saying he “A bit cold”.

He canceled his appointments on Monday and Saturday because of what the Vatican said was a mild flu, but on Sunday he gave his usual weekly speech to a crowd in St. Peter’s Square.

In early December, the Pope was forced to cancel a planned trip to the COP28 climate meeting in Dubai due to the effects of flu and pneumonia.

In his youth, in his native Argentina, Part of one lung was removed.

Reuters