Suffering from bronchitis for at least a week, Pope Francis again entrusted the reading of his catechesis to a collaborator during the general audience on February 12, 2025. Despite his respiratory problems, the 88-year-old pontiff, who arrived in a wheelchair, was smiling and active during the audience.
With a notably hoarse voice, the Pope introduced the theme of his catechesis to the faithful: the birth of Jesus. “And now I would like to ask […] a reader to continue reading, because with my bronchitis, I still can’t,” he said.
“I hope that next time I will be able to [read],” added Francis, as encouraging applause rang out from the crowd.
His text was then read by the Italian priest Pierluigi Giroli, an official of the Secretariat of State. The Pope briefly took the mic again to read the summary of his catechesis in Spanish.
During the audience last Wednesday, February 5, he had already declined to read his meditation due to a “bad cold.”
The following day, the Holy See Press Office indicated that the Pope had contracted bronchitis, and that he would be holding his audiences at his Santa Marta residence and not from the Apostolic Palace.
The Holy Father did celebrate Mass for the Jubilee of the Armed Forces in St. Peter’s Square last Sunday, though he appeared tired and, in a weakened voice, apologized to the crowd for not being able to continue reading his homily due to “breathing difficulties.”
Despite this new bout of respiratory problems – which tend to plague him in winter – Pope Francis continued with all of his audiences as normal, as on Monday morning, when he honored six official engagements on his agenda.
“The Pope was very tired. […] You could see he was suffering on his face, he was short of breath, it was quite difficult,” the rector of the Grand Mosque of Paris, Chems-eddine Hafiz, told I.MEDIA as he left his meeting.
Last night, the Bishop of Rome appeared in a video message – presumably recorded before his bout of bronchitis – shown to the millions of viewers of the Sanremo music festival, a very popular event in Italy.
Next Monday, he is due to leave the Vatican to go to the Cinecittà film studios, located in the southeast of Rome, for the Jubilee of Artists.
And today we celebrate...