Religion

Pope Francis Forced To Cancel Meetings Over Breathing Difficulties

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Pope Francis has canceled a series of meetings this week after falling ill, the Vatican said on Monday.

The Pope is suffering breathing difficulties due to inflammation of the lungs and has postponed some of his meetings until he recovers, the Vatican told the Daily Caller News Foundation. He does not have pneumonia or a fever and has begun taking antibiotics to treat his ailment.

“Today I cannot appear at the window because I have this problem of inflammation of the lungs,” the Pope said during his weekly Angelus address on Sunday, adding that a priest would read the day’s reflection.

Francis is in stable condition and “clearly improving” from his illness, the Vatican confirmed to the DCNF. He plans to attend some meetings this week but will postpone others until he recovers fully.

The Pope said that he still plans to travel to the United Arab Emirates (UAE) on Saturday to attend the 2023 United Nations Climate Conference (COP28) in Dubai. More than 70,000 people are expected to attend the climate confab, including world leaders, delegates and government officials.

If we believe in the capacity of human beings to transcend our petty interests and to think on a grand scale, we cannot give up on dreaming that #COP28 will lead to an acceleration of the energy transition. This Conference can be a turning point.

— Pope Francis (@Pontifex) November 27, 2023

The Pope received criticism after saying Wednesday that the Israel-Hamas conflict had “gone beyond wars” and appeared to claim Israel was committing “terror” in the Gaza Strip, according to Catholic media Crux. During a prayer, he called for peace and for both sides to “not go forward with the passions that ultimately [kill] everyone.”

“They suffer a lot, and I heard how both of them suffer: wars do this, but here we have gone beyond wars, this is not waging war, this is terrorism,” the Pope said on Nov. 22.

“May the Lord put his and there, may the Lord help us to resolve problems and not go forward with the passions that ultimately kill everyone. We pray for the Palestinian people, we pray for the Israeli people, for peace to come,” he said.