Ailing Pope curtails weekly audience talk
February 05, 2025
Pope Francis, again saying that he was suffering from a “severe cold,” did not read his catechetical address at his regular weekly public audience on February 5. Instead the Pontiff handed over his prepared text to an aide to be read aloud.The Pope did make his own appeal for peace at the conclusion of the audience, although he coughed frequently and appeared to have trouble breathing.
In his spoken remarks the Pope asked for prayers for “all the displaced people of Palestine,” and offered his thanks for the priests and religious serving in countries afflicted with violence, including Ukraine and the Democratic Republic of Congo as well as the Holy Land.
In January, Pope Francis has asked an aide to read his prepared remarks on several occasions—including his annual "State of the World" speech to the Vatican diplomatic corps. In those cases, too, he had complained a a heavy cold.
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