Pope Francis has a bad cold and has opted to skip speeches he was set to deliver on Thursday to visiting groups of priests and scientists, the Vatican said.
Francis, 86, did meet with young Orthodox priests and monks and members of the Max Planck Society, the German research organisation that is celebrating its 75th anniversary this year.
But because of a “bad cold”, Francis merely had printed copies of his remarks handed out and did not read them aloud, the Vatican said in a note.
