Europe

Pope Francis cancels all meetings due to a fever

The news now raises more concerns about the 86-year-old pope's health.

Pope Francis delivering his blessing.
Andrew Medichini / AP
SMS

Pope Francis has canceled all meetings for Friday because he’s running a fever, the Vatican confirmed.

The Vatican attributed the fever to the fact that the Pope was feeling tired after he had personally greeted a notably large crowd at an event on Thursday, multiple reports say.

"He wanted to greet all of them and probably at a certain point lost his resistance," Cardinal Pietro Parolin told LaPresse news agency.

According to the Catholic News Agency, the pontiff also cleared his schedule for Saturday but still has a scheduled mass for Sunday, May 28.

The news now raises more concerns about the 86-year-old pope's health, as he was hospitalized for four days at the end of March due to acute pneumonitis.

During an interview with Telemundo on Thursday, the pontiff addressed his health and said that his lungs were feeling much better now.

"We caught [the infection] in time, they told me, and if we had waited, it would have been more serious. But I left [the hospital] in four days," said the Pope.

The Pope also acknowledged his knee troubles, said that some days are more painful than others, but he’s glad to be walking, and even joked about his age.

"I'm at the age where people say how good do I look, as a compliment for being old," the Pope said.

This is a developing story. Scripps News will be tracking the Pope’s health throughout the weekend.