After scaling back on daily Masses and declining to hold public appearances in St. Peter's Square this July, Pope Francis sparked a wave of speculation about his health. This afternoon, the Vatican issued an official statement to let churchgoers know the pope is doing just fine.
"There is no sickness whatsoever," Rev. Thomas Rosica, a Vatican spokesperson, told CNN. "If there was, we would be open about that and asking people to pray for him." Rosica denied that the pope has any illness, despite his resting for two days earlier this month due to "minor indisposition."
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
-
Gavin Newsom's podcast debut is not going over well with some liberalsIN THE SPOTLIGHT The first episode of the California Governor and potential presidential candidate's 'This is Gavin Newsom' featured cozy conversation with far-right operative Charlie Kirk and a surprisingly conservative stance on transgender athletes
-
'Extremists still find plenty of digital spaces'Instant Opinion Opinion, comment and editorials of the day
-
South Carolina to execute prisoner by firing squadspeed read Death row inmate Brad Sigmon prefers the squad over the electric chair or lethal injection, his lawyer said
-
Pope Francis suffers setback with respiratory episodesSpeed Read The 88-year-old pope continues to battle pneumonia
-
US Christianity's long decline has halted, Pew findsSpeed Read 62% of Americans call themselves Christian, a population that has been 'relatively stable' for the past five years
-
Pope Francis hospitalized with 'complex' illnessSpeed Read The Vatican says their leader has a respiratory infection, raising new concerns about his health
-
The Aga Khan, billionaire spiritual leader, dies at 88Speed Read Prince Karim Al-Hussaini's philanthropy funded hospitals, housing and schools in some of the world's poorest places
-
Biden awards Pope Francis highest US civilian honorSpeed Read President Joe Biden awarded Pope Francis the Presidential Medal of Freedom with Distinction
-
Pope seeks inquiry on if Gaza assault is 'genocide'Speed Read In a book for the Jubilee 2025, Pope Francis considers whether Israel's war in Gaza meets the legal definition of 'genocide'
-
Church of England head resigns over abuse scandalSpeed Read Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby faced backlash over his handling of a notorious child abuser
-
Catholic synod ends with no resolution on womenSpeed Read At a major Vatican meeting, Pope Francis did not address ordaining women as deacons
